Court rejects Amrozi's defense
Wahyoe Boediwardhana and Jongker Rumthe, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar/Manado
The Denpasar District Court judges ruled on Thursday that the trial of Bali bombing suspect Amrozi would continue after they rejected defense objections to his indictment.
Presiding judge I Made Karna said the court would proceed with examination of witnesses, beginning on Monday next week.
The panel of judges, in their 46-page ruling, asserted that the indictment of Amrozi contained clear, accurate and comprehensive descriptions, including information on times and locations, of the crime the defendant allegedly committed.
"After careful examination, the judges found the lawyers' defense objections were unacceptable," Karna said.
In their defense, presented to the court last week, Amrozi's lawyers said the indictment was not only "blurry" and inaccurate, but contradicted the non-retroactive principle of the Indonesian law.
One of his lawyers, Wirawan Adnan said his team would appeal the court's ruling.
"We will contest the decision but will wait until the all of the witnesses testify," Wirawan said.
The prosecutors have summoned at least 10 bombing survivors to testify against the defendant. They are part of over 130 witnesses listed by the prosecutors.
"The first witnesses will tell the court about the destructive impact on their lives," Bali Prosecutors' Office spokesman Muhammad Salim said.
The prosecutors will also bring fellow suspects in the Bali bombing to the court to testify against Amrozi.
Later in the day, the prosecutors submitted the indictments of another four suspects in the Bali bombing. The indictments of Abdul Rauf, Andi Hidayat, Andi Octavia and Junaedi were handed over to the Denpasar District Court, along with 71 items of physical evidence.
The group of suspects, named after their place of origin, Serang in Banten province, were allegedly held responsible for a robbery of a jewelry shop to finance the bomb attacks in the packed resort area of Kuta last October.
The Oct. 12, 2002 blasts killed 202 people, mostly foreigners, making it the worst terror attack in terms of casualties since the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy in the United States.
Like other Bali bombing suspects, the four men are being charged under the antiterrorism law, which carries a maximum penalty of death.
Seperately, in Manado, British Ambassador to Indonesia Richard Gozney said his government had not yet considered lifting its travel advisory for the country's nationals to visit Indonesia, citing the terror threats from the radical Jamaah Islamiyah network, who remain active here.
Speaking to journalists during his visit to the capital of North Sulawesi, Gozney said many Britons, including businesspeople, were traumatized by the Bali bombing, which killed 25 British nationals.
The police here accused Jamaah Islamiyah, which has apparent links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, of masterminding the Bali blasts.
Gozney said Britain was waiting for more serious measures by the Indonesian government in dealing with the terror threats before it completely lifted the travel advisory.