Lawyers seek retrial for Indonesian man convicted of illegal
Lawyers seek retrial for Indonesian man convicted of illegal explosives possession
Jim Gomez Associated Press Manila
Lawyers for an Indonesian man convicted of illegal explosives possession asked the Philippine Supreme Court on Monday to give him more time to file a petition for a retrial.
Agus Dwikarna's lawyers asked the court to give him up to Nov. 30 to file the petition to allow them to present new evidence they claim would show that police planted explosives in his luggage.
Dwikarna was convicted by a suburban Pasay city court in July of carrying C-4 plastic explosives and bomb parts at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as he and two other Indonesians were leaving Manila for Bangkok in March.
He was sentenced to 17 years in prison. The other Indonesians were later freed and allowed to return home.
Dwikarna's lawyers appealed his conviction, but the Pasay court denied the appeal Oct. 16, giving them up to the end of October to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Instead, his lawyers have decided to file a petition for retrial before the Supreme Court after they acquired new evidence favoring Dwikarna, said one of the attorneys, Felipe Arcilla. Arcilla said among the new evidence is testimony from a Thai national and one of the two Indonesians with Dwikarna at the airport indicating the explosives were planted by police.
Police officials allege Dwikarna is a member of Jamaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian-based Islamic militant group with suspected links to al-Qaida. Singapore has said the group planned to attack Western targets in the city-state earlier this year.
The group is also suspected of orchestrating the bombings that killed nearly 200 people on Indonesia's tourist island of Bali this month.
After the Bali attack, U.S. officials included it on a list of foreign terrorist groups, outlawing any kind of support and banning the entry of members to the United States.
The United Nations also included Jamaah Islamiyah on a list of al-Qaeda allies last Friday. Any person or group on the list is subject to international sanctions. Nations are required to freeze their assets, prevent their movements and block any attempts to sell or transfer arms to them.