BALI BOMBERS FILE ANOTHER APPEAL, BUT GOI SAYS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001573

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/19/2018
TAGS: PGOV CTER ASES ID AS
SUBJECT: BALI BOMBERS FILE ANOTHER APPEAL, BUT GOI SAYS
EXECUTION PLANS ARE MOVING FORWARD

REF: JAKARTA 1463 AND PREVIOUS

JAKARTA 00001573 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The three Bali bombers have filed a
last-ditch appeal of their case to Indonesia's Constitutional
Court. GOI officials have underscored that the terrorists
have already used up all of their appeals in the Supreme
Court system and, thus, can be executed at any time. Most
contacts believe that the executions could very well happen
before September 1, the start of the month-long Ramadan
fasting timeframe. One contact in the President's Office
told us that "everything is ready to go," but he did not
predict that any action was necessarily imminent.


2. (C) SUMMARY (Con'd): In other news related to law
enforcement, the GOI announced on August 17 (Indonesia's
national day) its annual remissions list. Unlike past years,
no well-known terrorists reportedly had their sentences
remitted. As part of the announcement, which basically
impacts all prisoners who exhibit "good behavior," the
convicted killer of Munir Thalib, the well-known human rights
activist, had his 20-year prison sentence remitted by three
months. Pol/C expressed concern about this to a GOI contact.
END SUMMARY.

BALI BOMBERS LODGE APPEAL


3. (C) The Bali bombers' case continues to make news. The
three, who were sentenced to death for their roles in the
October 2002 bombings, have appealed their sentences to the
Constitutional Court. The three (and their lawyers)
vociferously claim that execution by firing squad--the
mandated mode in Indonesia--is "torture" and thus prohibited
per the Indonesian Constitution. The three also lodged some
other less-central claims. The Constitutional Court has not
yet announced whether it plans to hold a hearing on the
matter or form a bench to review the claims on a substantive
basis.

GOI SAYS IT CAN MOVE FORWARD


4. (C) The GOI, for its part, is not impressed. Unnamed
officials were quoted in the press as stating that the
Constitutional Court should not be involved in the matter.
They say that the Supreme Court--which rules on issues
related to crime and terrorism after appeals are launched up
the chain from the court of first instance--has already fully
judged the case and thus the three have already "used up"
their appeals. Thus, per this line of reasoning, the
executions could happen "at any time."


5. (C) The GOI seems serious about moving forward. In
recent meetings with Pol/C, representatives of the
President's and the Vice President's Offices both said that
the GOI was ready to execute the three. Tri Sukma "Nanu"
Djandam, an assistant in the President's International
Relations Office, told Pol/C on August 19 that "everything is
ready to go." That said, he did not predict when the
executions would actually take place. He commented that it
was "highly unlikely" that the three would be executed during
Ramadan, an important Muslim timeframe which begins in
Indonesia on September 1 and lasts one month. He said that
left the rest of August or after Ramadan.

JAKARTA 00001573 002.2 OF 002



SECURITY TIGHTENED AT PRISON


6. (C) There are reports that security has been further
tightened in the area of the prison where the three
terrorists are incarcerated. The prison, which is located on
Nusa Kambangan Island off the coast of Central Java, is
considered high-security, holding many of the country's most
dangerous criminals. According to reports, police
reinforcements have been sent to the wider area in order to
make sure that there are no security incidents. The three
prisoners have been given access to their families and
lawyers. The warden of the prisoner has been quoted as
stating that the prison is preparing for the executions. The
three were not allowed, for example, to attend the August 17
national day celebrations at the prison. The warden stated
to the press: "We do not want to run the risk of letting
them participate in the ceremony and having any incident at
this time. We have difficulties managing their
behavior--they always insult people in the prison, including
guards."

REMISSIONS


7. (C) In other news, the GOI has announced its annual
"remissions" of prisoner sentences. The GOI announced the
list on August 17, Indonesia's national day. The list
included over 62,000 names of prisoners. Some 5,000
prisoners walked free due to the remission of their sentences
(the remissions generally were for about three months for
each prisoner, so if someone walked free they were near the
end of their sentence). Unlike past years, no well-known
terrorists had their sentences remitted as far as we are
aware. Mission is trying to confirm this with the GOI.


8. (C) As part of the announcement, which basically impacts
all prisoners who exhibit "good behavior," the convicted
killer of Munir Thalib, the well-known human rights activist,
had his 20-year prison sentence remitted by three months. In
his meeting with Djandam of the President's Office, Pol/C
noted that it was very unfortunate that Pollycarpus Budihari
Priyono (the convicted murderer) was able to benefit from the
announcement given the brutality and shocking nature of the
crime. Djandam said he appreciated that, but added that
Pollycarpus had "apparently exhibited the good behavior
necessary and thus met the general criteria."


9. (U) (Note: Well known convicted drug smuggler,
Australian national Schapelle Corby, also benefited from the
remission policy as did some members of the Bali "Nine"
heroin smuggling ring, which also includes Australian
nationals.)


10. (C) After years of criticism of the seeming liberality
of its remissions policy, the government has put in place new
rules, which will cut down on the number of remissions.
Prisoners convicted since October 2007 of any crime involving
narcotics, terrorism, corruption or illegal logging will no
longer be eligible to have their sentences remitted. The new
rules are not retroactive, however.

HUME