Prime Bali terror suspect nearly ready for trial<\/p>\n
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said on Tuesday they had finalized the case file
\nfor Abdul Aziz, alias Imam Samudra, the alleged key planner
\nbehind the Oct. 12 Bali bombing, and estimated that his trial
\ncould start by mid May.<\/p>\n
The completion of the 1,501-page dossier on Monday allowed
\nprosecutors to register Abdul's case with the district court,
\nsaid the spokesman of Bali's prosecutors' office, Soedibyo.<\/p>\n
Last month, prosecutors had to return to the police Samudra's
\nfiles due to administrative ommissions.<\/p>\n
Soedibyo said his office would soon take over Abdul's
\ndetention and the evidence from the police.<\/p>\n
\"The handover of the suspect and the evidence will be done
\ntomorrow (Wednesday),\" Soedibyo told reporters.<\/p>\n
Despite his official transfer, he added, the prime terror
\nsuspect would be returned to the police jail cell because the
\nprosecutor's detention facility had been deemed inadequate.<\/p>\n
Police submitted his dossier in early February, charging him
\nof plotting and carrying out premeditated acts of terror to cause
\nmass murder.<\/p>\n
At least 202 people died in the powerful blasts that destroyed
\ntwo nightclubs packed with foreign tourists in Kuta.<\/p>\n
So far, police have arrested some 30 suspects in connection
\nwith the bombing, charging them with various articles under the
\nantiterrorist government regulation.<\/p>\n
Soedibyo said that the dossier of another suspect Rauf alias
\nSam had also been completed on Monday. Prosecutors charged him
\nwith helping to plan and fund the attack.<\/p>\n
Another key suspect, Amrozi will be the first to go on trial.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors completed his dossier last month, and his trial is
\nexpected to open by the end of April.<\/p>\n
Police believe the Bali bombing was the work of the Jamaah
\nIslamiyah (JI), a shadowy organization operating in Southeast
\nAsia.<\/p>\n
Headquartered in Indonesia and with bases in Malaysia and
\nSingapore, JI has also been blamed for the series of church
\nbombings across the country during Christmas Eve in 2000.<\/p>\n
JI's alleged spiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir has been
\narrested in connection with this case.<\/p>\n
Police believe the Muslim cleric might have also been involved
\nin the Bali bombing. But Ba'asyir has denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, police identified a key suspect responsible for
\nthe Christmas bombing of three churches in the West Nusa Tenggara
\ntown of Mataram.<\/p>\n
But the suspect, known as Husaid alias Suwarso or Zainal
\nArifin, died in a traffic accident on June 2001, said local
\npolice spokesman Adj. Snr. Comr. Basri as quoted by Antara.<\/p>",
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