Forensic expert links Amrozi to Bali bombing

Forensic expert links Amrozi to Bali bombing

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

A forensic expert presented more incriminating evidence on Monday
against key Bali bombing suspect Amrozi, saying the residues of
the explosives extracted from the bomb sites matched the ones
found in the defendant's home in Tenggulun village in East Java.

Comr. Rudi Aris Tavip Puspito, a specialist with the Bali
Police's forensic laboratory in Denpasar, said that the police
found residues of TNT (Trinitrotoluene), RDX (Research
Development Explosive-- Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine) and
Chlorate on the chassis of the remains of the Mitsubishi L300
minivan used to transport the bombs, on the wall of the destroyed
Sari Club and on the surface of the road in front of the
nightclub.

"The police team managed to extract residues of organic
explosives, TNT and RDX, while the Australian Federal Police
(AFP) forensic team found the residue of a non-organic explosive,
Chlorate," Tavip told the court.

The forensic team later found similar residues at the
defendant's home and several other undisclosed places in
Tenggulun, East Java.

The team also found the residues of these explosives at four
separate places in Denpasar, namely rented rooms on Jl. Gatot
Subroto, Jl. Marlboro, Jl. Pulau Pinang and Jl. Pulau Menjangan,
where the defendant and his fellow suspects stayed prior to the
bombings.

Furthermore, the team found residues of TNT at the bomb site
at Paddy's Pub and residues of PTEN
(Pentaerythritoltetranitrate), Nitril, Nitrate and RDX on the red
Yamaha F1-ZR allegedly used by Ali Imron, another suspect in the
case, to deliver a small package of explosives to a place near
the U.S. consular office in the Renon area.

Responding to Tavip's testimony, Amrozi said that he could not
understand most of the witness's account.

"Maybe because I used to fall asleep during my chemistry
classes back in school," he joked.

Previously, Tavip said that he and several other forensic
experts arrived at the bomb site some 15 minutes after the
explosion. The 70 centimeter deep and four meter wide crater
created by the explosion led the team to assume that a vehicle
bomb had been used in the attack, which killed 202 people, mostly
foreigners.

With the help of experts from various auto manufacturers, the
forensic team was able to identify the vehicle as a Mitsubishi
L300 minivan. Further forensic efforts failed to reveal the
identification number on the car's chassis, but did produce its
commercial vehicle registration number.

The registration number, DPR 15463, helped the police trace
the owner and eventually led to the arrest of Amrozi, the first
major breakthrough in the investigation.

Earlier in the morning, the presiding judges in Imam Samudra's
trial rejected a defense motion to throw out the case based on
technicalities, particularly over the retroactive nature of the
antiterrorism law used to charge him.

In their ruling, the panel of judges presided over by I Nyoman
Sugawa said the trial could proceed and move on to the calling of
witnesses.

In the separate trial of Abdul Rauf, Junaedi, Andi Hidayat and
Andri Octavia, prosecutors insisted that the Denpasar District
Court had jurisdiction to try the defendants for the robbery of
the Elita jewelry store in Serang, Banten, months before the
blasts.

The judges will present their ruling on whether to proceed
with the this trial next Thursday.