Police confident Balinese will not seek vengeance
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali
The police here assured on Monday that the Balinese people would not take vengeance against suspects of the Oct. 12 deadly bomb blasts that claimed almost 200 lives and injured more than 320 others.
"Based on a police intelligence report, there is no indication throughout the province that the Balinese will take the law into own their hands regarding the suspects," Bali Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Yatim Suyatmo announced.
He said local people, mostly Hindu adherents, were committed to adopting a peaceful approach to deal with the blasts despite the fact that the tragedy had seriously affected tourism, which most local people rely on for a livelihood.
The Balinese have pledged to help the police ensure security for the bombing suspects should they be tried in Denpasar, Suyatmo said, referring to a recent demonstration by the People's Representatives Council (DPM) and other local non-governmental organizations.
The DPM, a pressure group comprising thousands of members across the province, last week marched to the Bali Police Headquarters to demand that the trials of Amrozi, Imam Samudra and other bombing suspects be held in Denpasar.
It further threatened to create public disorder in Bali if the demand was not heeded by the authorities.
Attorney General's Office spokesman Barman Zahir assured in Jakarta over the weekend that all the Bali bombing suspects would be tried at the Denpasar District Court because Bali was the site of the incident.
He said the government was focusing on preparing prosecutors and judges for the trials in Denpasar.
I Ketut Yona, head of the Bali Prosecutor's Office, said on Friday that he had established a team of at least 21 prosecutors to handle the high-profile bombing case.
Yona and Suyatmo agreed that the trials should be held in Bali, saying there was no legal reason to move the trials to another province given that security and order on the resort island remained conducive.
Police have detained Amrozi and Imam Samudra as well as many other people linked to the two leading suspects. However, only Amrozi has been brought to Bali and is currently being held at the provincial police headquarters.
Samudra, the alleged mastermind of the bombings, is being interrogated in Jakarta concerning his alleged involvement in previous bomb explosions across the country and will likely be flown to Bali later this week, according to the police.
Police detectives have said a number of investigators have been appointed by Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Budi Setyawan to grill Samudra after his arrival in Denpasar.
The investigators are different from those quizzing Amrozi but are grouped in one team led by Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika, the detectives said.
Suyatmo further said the Bali Police had prepared between 25 and 35 cells to accommodate high-profile suspects charged with terrorism. "We have checked the cells and repaired some of them to tighten security," he added.
He said the police had emptied the cells, which had been occupied by ordinary criminal suspects who were moved to detention rooms at the city police office in Denpasar.
Both Amrozi and Samudra are being detained under the new terrorism regulation that allows the police to hold them for six months before putting them on trial.