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.