Amrozi retraction fails to kill case<\/p>\n
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
Prosecutors in the trial of the key suspect in the Bali bombings,
\nAmrozi, said his and the other witnesses' denials of their roles
\nin the terror attacks would not kill the case.<\/p>\n
Chief prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan said on Thursday that his
\nteam would both try to persuade the panel of judges to accept the
\npolice records of the suspects' interrogations, and try to use
\nprevious testimony given by other witnesses against the
\ndefendant.<\/p>\n
\"We have anticipated this move as they were all involved in
\nthe attack. The fact that they retracted their confessions
\nfurther convinces us that they were the perpetrators of the
\nbombings,\" Urip said.<\/p>\n
During the trial on Wednesday, two key witnesses, Abdul Aziz
\nalias Imam Samudra, and Hutomo Pamungkas, retracted their
\nconfessions to police interrogators on the holding of a series of
\nmeetings in Sukoharjo, Surakarta and Lamongan to plot and
\norganize the bombings.<\/p>\n
Defendant Amrozi supported their testimony, claiming that he
\nhad fabricated all the information about the meetings. Moreover,
\nanother key witness, Ali Gufron, refused to testify against his
\nyounger brother Amrozi.<\/p>\n
During police questioning, other suspects in the bombings, Ali
\nImron and Hernianto, provided damaging accounts on the role of
\nAmrozi, Samudra, Hutomo and Ali Gufron in the Bali bombings,
\nwhich killed 202 people, mostly foreigners.<\/p>\n
The denials not only provided another twist to the court
\ndrama, but appeared to push the prosecution into something of a
\ntight corner.<\/p>\n
\"It will not matter to us as we still have the police
\ninterrogation files on Ali Gufron. He refused to testify so we
\nhave presented a motion to the court to accept the case file as
\nadmissible evidence,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Criminal Code stipulates that there are only
\nfive things that may be admitted in evidence, namely witness
\ntestimony, the testimony of expert witnesses, the testimony of
\ndefendants, written evidence and clues.<\/p>\n
Urip was confident that the judges would accept the case files
\non Amrozi and the other suspects as written evidence, which has
\nhappened in the past.<\/p>\n
Separately, noted lawyer I Made Sudiantara said that if the
\njudges accepted the case files in evidence, then the prosecution
\nwould have to summon the police officers who questioned the
\nsuspects to testify before the court.<\/p>\n
\"I think the prosecutors will stick to this strategy in
\ndealing with any further retractions in the trial. The reason is
\nsimple, the case files are the only thing the prosecutors have,
\nand there is precedent to suggest that the judges will accept the
\nprosecutors' request,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Urip said the prosecution would make maximum use of the
\ntestimony of Ali Imron and Hernianto to convince the judges that
\nthe defendant was involved in plotting the bombing.<\/p>\n
\"Ali Imron and Hernianto confirmed there was a meeting to plan
\nthe attack and that Amrozi was at the meeting,\" Urip said.<\/p>\n
Ali Imron was the only witness to describe in detail the
\nmeeting in August 2002 in the Central Java town of Sukoharjo,
\nduring which Samudra, the alleged mastermind of the bombings,
\nallocated tasks to each of the suspected bombers, including the
\ndefendant Amrozi.<\/p>\n
So convinced is Ali Imron that the meeting took place that he
\nwas involved in a verbal disagreement with Samudra during the
\nlatter's trial on Thursday evening. Imam vehemently denied that
\nthe meeting took place and that he had participated in it.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Amrozi admitted his involvement in a
\nseries of terrorist attacks, including the church bombings in
\nMojokerto, East Java, and at the bombings of the Atrium Senen and
\nthe Philippines' embassy, both in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
However, he denied the involvement of the alleged spiritual
\nleader of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, in the Bali
\nbombings. He had never received an order from Ba'asyir to conduct
\nthe bombings nor did he seek the cleric's blessing before
\ndeparting to Bali.<\/p>\n
\"I did not even bid my wife farewell, so why I should do that
\nto Abu Bakar Ba'asyir,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/amrozi-retraction-fails-to-kill-case-1447893297",
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