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| Southeast Asia |
| Fury that court ruling might free Bali bombers |
| 2004-07-23 |
| Bali bombing victims were furious last night over an Indonesian court decision that could free convicted bombers. The Constitutional Court ruled that the country's tough anti-terror laws were unconstitutional. The verdict is expected to prompt a rush of appeals among the 32 convicted terrorists and has sparked fears among families affected by the bombings in October 2002. Blast survivor Gary Nash said he was bewildered by the decision. "To be quite honest it doesn't surprise me one little bit as I've said all along I don't believe these guys will ever be prosecuted or executed," he said. "Eventually it will just drag out and drag out and the finish will be (that) in a couple of years they will be released from jail." Kingsley Football Club coach Simon Quayle said he feared the bombers would eventually be back walking the streets which would leave the world, and particularly Australians, living in fear. "When I first heard about it I was in shock, thinking, 'No, it can't have happened, they couldn't have let this happen'," he said. "I have no doubt if in six months, a year, a week these blokes, for some obscure reason get out, the world will suffer." The court ruling came on an appeal lodged by lawyers for Masykur Abdul Kadir, who was jailed last year for 15 years for providing transport and accommodation for the bombers. Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer played down the likelihood of any bombers walking free, saying the decision related only to Masykur's case and the Bali High Court would have the final say. "It's not being extrapolated by court officials or by the Indonesian Government to other cases," Mr Downer said. "Second, it's an advisory opinion by the Constitutional Court, so it doesn't mean that the particular person, the appellant in this case, is to be released." Mr Downer said the Indonesian Government shared Australia's concern that the convictions should stand for the people who killed 212 people, 88 of them Australians. "If they get overturned on some technicality in an appeal, well in those circumstances we'll be working with the Indonesian Government encouraging them to bring fresh charges." Associate Professor Tim Lindsey, director of Melbourne University Asian Law Centre, said he believed the decision would result in most of the Bali bombers being released but immediately rearrested and successfully convicted under other laws. He said Masykur's appeal was based on a 2000 law which made it unconstitutional to legislate retrospectively against crimes. |
| Posted by:TS(vice girl) |
| #4 Here is a fairly lengthy analysis of the issue from an Indonesian (English language, online) media source: Constitutional Court Overturns Anti-Terror Law July 23, 2004 11:27 PM, Laksamana.Net EFL The Constitutional Court has ruled that Indonesiaâs anti-terrorism legislation, used to convict the Bali bombers and other militants, is unconstitutional because laws cannot be applied retroactively. I.e., an ex post facto law. These kinds of laws are prohibited by the U.S. Constitution, too. A panel of nine judges at the court overturned the law in a five to four majority decision on Friday (23/7/04). The split, as I see it, has to do with substance versus procedure. For example (IMHO), the Nuremberg Trials after WW II were not really ex post facto laws, because the trials simply created a process to impose penalties for violations of the common law. Here, apparently, five of the four judges were of the opinion that the law was too substantive to be classed as a simple change of procedure. * * *The anti-terrorism law was enacted in response to the October 12, 2002, Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. . . . Wirawan Adnan, head of the Bali bombersâ team of attorneys, said police will have to either re-charge his clients under the standard Criminal Code or release them within 30 days. My guess is, like what the Indonesian Government did with Baasyir, is that theyâll recharge these evil bastards under the Criminal Code as it existed on the day of the bombing. The thing is, the result will likely be the same at this point. By now the prosecution has all kinds of evidence built up and probably doesnât need the perks of the Indonesiaâs anti-terrorism law to get convictions that will result in the same death penalties previously entered. Remember, this is Indonesia. You can get the death penalty for drug convictions. * * *The ruling could seriously embarrass President Megawati, but it shouldnât. Actually, this is a major step forward in the Rule of Law in Indonesia. The Court is barring ex post facto laws, even though the great majority of the Indonesian people donât care. Thatâs the Rule of Law -- protection of all by the protection of some. Donât worry, just try them fair so you can hang them fair. who on Thursday praised state prosecutors for successfully combating terrorism in Indonesia. "The success of prosecutors to bring terror suspects in Bali and Jakarta to court is no small achievement. While in many countries the fight against terrorism is merely rhetoric, we keep bringing terror perpetrators to justice," she was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post daily. * * *Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said Friday the Constitutional Courtâs ruling would not mean the Bali bombers will walk free. "Obviously the Indonesian government officials are studying this decision very closely. They don't need a lot of egging on by us to come to the conclusion they themselves have come to, which is they want to make sure that the current sentences stand," he said. |
| Posted by: cingold 2004-07-23 7:42:15 PM |
| #3 The problem is with ex post facto laws -- that's a problem under the U.S. Constitution, too. The ruling of the RI Constitutional Court may simply require re-trials (i.e., bring new charges based on the same facts, but under viable âpre-Bali Bombingâ laws), but I don't see the terrorists being set loose. If the trials were done right, there might not even be a need for re-trials. Hopefully, along with convictions under the terror law, the prosecution also got convictions for common law murder charges -- which would still merit the death penalty (probably), and wouldn't require re-trials. I wouldn't jump to conclusions, yet . . . |
| Posted by: cingold 2004-07-23 5:29:16 PM |
| #2 If these guys are released, Australia and America should set up some wetwork teams to greet them at the prison gate. They do not deserve to live. In fact, they need to die veeeeeeeery slowly. Amrozi, in particular, needs to have his smile rearranged several times with a gun butt first. Preferrably by one of the Aussie team members while someone else takes pictures for all the folks back home. If Indonesia is so corrupt as to do this, we need to place them on our reentry vehicle targeting list. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-23 4:29:33 PM |
| #1 Indonesian Constitutional Court: We looked and looked, but could find nothing in the Koran and Sharia that says it is illegal to murder infidels. Release the |
| Posted by: ed 2004-07-23 4:00:51 PM |