Bali prosecutors return Samudra's dossier to police

Prosecutors returned to police on Thursday the dossier of Imam Samudra, alias Abdul Aziz, the alleged mastermind behind the terrorist attacks on the resort island of Bali last October, due to lack of evidence.

Head of the Bali Prosecutor's Office I Ketut Yona said the police had to provide more evidence in the 1,501-page case file, saying it was "incomplete".

"There are at least one or two elements that need material evidence, so we want the police to provide it," he said.

Police presented the Samudra's dossier earlier this month, charging him with plotting and carrying out premeditated acts of terror to cause mass murder.

Yona said the case files of the 13 other suspects in the Bali blasts -- Syaiful, Musafak, Herlambang, Budi Wibowo, Masykur, Najib, Yudi, Makmuri, Junaedi, Rauf, Agus, Hernianto and Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas -- would also be given back to police for revisions.

Meanwhile, the dossier of another key suspect, Amrozi, was deemed "complete" and prosecutors would submit it to court soon, Yona said.

The police had resubmitted Amrozi's dossier to the prosecutor's office earlier this month, after it had been returned to them for the same reason of incomplete evidence.

The country's judicial system is notorious for its many weaknesses on the part of police and prosecutors in laying charges or providing evidence against suspects. Corruption and bribes are often blamed for the failure of justice. -- JP