BALI BOMBERS MAKE LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO DELAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000167

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, S/CT, INL FOR BOULDIN/BUHLER
DOJ FOR CRIM AAG SWARTZ, DOJ/OPDAT FOR
LEHMANN/ALEXANDRE/BERMAN
DOJ/CTS FOR MULLANEY, ST HILAIRE
FBI FOR ETTUI/SSA ROTH
NCTC WASHDC
NSC FOR E.PHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2018
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PTER ID
SUBJECT: BALI BOMBERS MAKE LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO DELAY
EXECUTION

REF: A. JAKARTA 118


B. 07 JAKARTA 3451

C. 07 JAKARTA 2753

D. 07 JAKARTA 2658

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: Lawyers for the three terrorists who
carried out the 2002 Bali bombing are requesting a second
judicial review of the Supreme Court decision confirming
their death sentences. Their appeals exhausted, the
condemned bombers have been given until February 2 to request
clemency or face execution. The lawyers added that they will
appeal to a judicial watchdog and a conservative Muslim group
for assistance. These last ditch efforts to delay the
executions appear very unlikely to succeed. END SUMMARY.

YET ANOTHER APPEAL


2. (SBU) Muslim Defense Team (TPM) chief Ahmad Michdan
announced on January 24 that he had filed a second request
for a judicial review of the case of the three Bali bombers.
(Note: The TPM often defends Muslim extremists.) The three
convicted terrorists--Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, Imam Samudra and
Ali Gufron alias "Muklas"--were sentenced to death in 2003
for carrying out the deadly attack in October 2002. Their
sentences were upheld twice on appeal.


3. (SBU) Their initial request for a judicial review--a
formal process provided by law when all appeals have already
failed--was rejected by the Supreme Court in August 2007 (ref
D). According to Michdan, that decision was invalid because
the TPM did not have an opportunity to present evidence to
support the request. (Note: In fact, the TPM boycotted the
January 2007 court hearing in Bali in protest of the fact
that its request for a change of venue to Central Java had
not been ruled on.) Michdan--in somewhat vague terms--also
said the TPM would request assistance from the Judicial
Commission (a judicial watchdog group) and the Islamic
Clerics' Council (MUI).

GOI STANDS FIRM


4. (C) For its part, the government is standing firm. In
response to the TPM announcement, Supreme Court spokesman
Djoko Sarwoko stated that Indonesian law allows for a single
judicial review only, a view confirmed by a source at the
Attorney General's office (AGO). A Deputy Attorney General,

A. H. Ritonga, reiterated publicly this week that the
bombers' only remaining legal recourse was to request
presidential clemency, which the terrorists have repeatedly
said they would not do. The 30-day clock for that request
will stop ticking on February 2 and the executions, according
to Ritonga, would happen soon after that. If a clemency
request were made, the government would need time to examine
it. It is unlikely to be granted, however.

DESPERATE MEASURES


5. (C) The Supreme Court's unambiguous rulings on this case,
combined specifically with its prior rejection of the
bombers' appeals, leave little room for doubt about its
resolve. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that the
scandal-ridden Judicial Commission will want to risk further
sullying its image (ref C) by defending what may be
Indonesia's most heinous criminals. Similarly, while the MUI
has adopted conservative stances in the past, it has never
supported terrorism and would gain little with the Indonesian
public by allying itself with the bombers' case. In short,
the latest moves by the TPM are unlikely to derail the
momentum building towards carrying out the executions.

HUME