Trial of smiling Bali bombing suspect starts

Trial of smiling Bali bombing suspect starts

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The first session of the Bali bombing trials will start on
Monday with the "smiling suspect" Amrozi bin H Nurhasyim as the
first defendant among the 33 suspects apprehended so far.

Security is tight with at least four ambassadors and more than
400 journalists directly covering the biggest bombing trial in
the country so far.

"The U.S., UK, French and Swiss ambassadors will witness the
commencement of the trial. Moreover, at least 400 foreign and
domestic journalists will cover the event," Bali Police
spokesperson Adj. Sr. Commr. Y Suyatmo said on Sunday.

The trial will take place at Nari Graha, a state-owned
building previously used for the activities of Dharma Wanita, an
association of the wives of civil servants.

In anticipation of the trial, the building had undergone major
renovations in the past several months, including the
installation of new iron fences and a specially constructed iron
cage, where the defendant would be placed prior to the trial.

"The building has been 'sterilized' and our forces have been
deployed in and around the building since yesterday," Suyatmo
said.

Bali Police have assigned a total of 3,000 troops to secure
the event, out of which 300 officers and 12 marksmen would
stationed at the Nari Graha building.

In this first trial the 43-year old Amrozi bin H Nurhasyim
would be led from the armored transport car into the iron cage
before being escorted into the building to face the five
presiding judges, namely I Made Karna, Mulyani, Tjokorda Rai
Suamba, I Gusti Ngurah Astawa and Lilik Mulyadi.

Later on, the team of six prosecutors, namely I Nyoman Dila,
Urip Tri Gunawan, I Wayan Suwila, Erna Normawati, Putu
Supartajaya and Muhammad Salim will take turns in reading the 33-
page indictment on Amrozi.

The indictment places Amrozi in violation of the antiterrorism
law, which carries a maximum penalty of capital punishment.

"We will try to convince the judges to hand down the maximum
penalty. We are very convinced that we will be able to
aggressively prosecute and substantiate our indictment in the
trial," Bali Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Soedibyo said.

"The defendant could exercise his right to give a direct
response to the indictment. He could do so without having to wait
for the completion of the written response by his lawyers,"
Soedibyo added.

Separately, Amrozi's lawyers asked their client not to
exercise that right, particularly since the lawyers had not
received the copy of the 33-page indictment yet.

"According to the law we are supposed to get a copy of the
indictment. But until now, we have not received it," a lawyer
Ahmad Mihdan said.

Amrozi was the first suspect detained by the police. His
arrest on Nov. 5 2002 eventually led the investigators to the
rest of the suspects.

Allegedly one of the planners of the terrorist attack, Amrozi
also played an important logistical role in acquiring various
chemical compounds needed for the making of the bomb and in
obtaining the L-300 minivan that would later be used to place the
car bomb in.
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