Key witnesses change stories, deny role in Bali bombings

Key witnesses change stories, deny role in Bali bombings

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

A surprising twist marked the trial of Bali bombings' key suspect
Amrozi on Wednesday when two main witnesses denied there were a
series of meetings to plot and prepare the attacks.

Imam Samudra and Hutomo Pamungkas alias Mubarok, who were
presented by prosecutors to testify against Amrozi, retracted
their accounts given to police during their questioning by
telling the court they did not participate in or were aware of
the meetings.

Dealing another blow to the prosecutors' case, defendant
Amrozi withdrew his earlier testimony by saying that he had
deliberately fabricated all the information about the meetings.

"I made up all the stories about the meetings. Actually, the
meetings did not exist. I gave that information because I thought
Imam Samudra would not be caught by the authorities so I was free
to say whatever I like. Now that he has been apprehended I am
retracting my confession to the meetings," he said with his
famous grin.

Another key witness, Ali Gufron, who is allegedly the regional
leader of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), exercised the right granted by
Article 168 of the Criminal Code not to testify against his
younger brother, Amrozi. His decision stunned both the
prosecutors and the judges, who had no other choice but to let
him go.

The latest development posed a serious threat to the
prosecutors' efforts to prove that Amrozi was involved in
planning and organizing the act of terror, an offense that
carries the death penalty under the new terrorism law.

The Criminal Code states that testimony is recognized as legal
evidence only if it is presented during a trial before the court,
and is more persuasive than statements given to the police.

Chief prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan countered Amrozi's move by
asking the judges to recognize the police's case files as written
evidence. Presiding judge I Made Karna said he would take the
matter into consideration.

According to police case files, the primary document in which
prosecutors based their indictment, Imam Samudra, Mubarok and
Amrozi described a series of meetings in the Central Java towns
of Surakarta and Sukoharjo and the East Java town of Lamongan,
where the bomb attacks were plotted.

"I have been on the police's most wanted list since 2000 so I
sent e-mails or SMSes if I wanted to communicate with other
people. There was no way that I could participate in those
meetings. I always tried to avoid coming into direct contact with
others," Samudra told the court.

Mubarok followed suit, saying: "I am revoking my account in
the police case files, in which I stated that I had prior
knowledge of and participated in the Surakarta meeting."

Mubarok said he only tried to follow the pattern of questions
raised by police investigators when he described the meeting.

Furthermore, Samudra also denied that he knew Hernianto and
Zulkarnaen, the hosts of the meeting in Sukoharjo. Previously,
another suspect, Ali Imron, claimed that in the meeting Samudra
detailed to the participants the division of work for the Bali
bombings, which claimed at least 202 lives, mostly foreigners.

"Our movement was a secret operation, so there was no pecking
order or division of labor," Samudra said.

Samudra also said that he had no knowledge of the purchase of
a load of explosive materials or a Mitsubishi L300 minivan by the
defendant.

However, Samudra said that he came to Bali to execute a jihad
attack against the United States and its allies. He had conducted
similar attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Kashmir.

"The idea to wage war against the U.S. and its allies came
from me. But I am not quite sure who came up with the idea to
plant the bombs in Bali," he said.