Bomb suspects' testimony requested

Bomb suspects' testimony requested

DENPASAR, Bali: A lawyer defending Muslim cleric Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir said on Tuesday prosecutors would bring one defendant
and four suspects in the Bali bombing case to Jakarta to testify
against his client, who is standing trial for treason.

Mohammad Mahendradatta, the coordinator of the Muslim Lawyers
Team (TPM), said the intention to bring the Bali bombing
defendant and suspects to Jakarta had been explicitly stated by
Hasan Madani, the chief prosecutor in Ba'asyir's case.

Amrozi and his brothers Ali Gufron and Ali Imron, Hutomo
Pamungkas, alias Mubarok, and the alleged mastermind of the
bombings, Imam Samudra, were expected to be transported to
Jakarta sometime next week to appear at Ba'asyir's hearing on May
29.

"For a long time, we assumed that the prosecutors were trying
to implicate our client with the bombings in Bali. The facts the
Bali bombing suspects and defendant will present to the trial
will prove that our assumption is not groundless," Mahendradatta
said.

Spokesman for the Bali Prosecutor's Office Muhammad Salim said
he had no information on the plan to take Amrozi and his
colleagues to Jakarta.

"If the information is accurate, then we would have to discuss
it first with the presiding judges on the bombing, since Amrozi
is currently under the custody of the Denpasar District Court,"
he said. -- JP