BALI BOMBERS -- CONSTITUTIONAL COURT SLATED TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001920

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, S/CT, INL FOR
BARCLAY/ROESS/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: 10/15/2018
TAGS: PGOV PTER KJUS ID AS
SUBJECT: BALI BOMBERS -- CONSTITUTIONAL COURT SLATED TO
RULE ON APPEAL

REF: A. JAKARTA 1832

B. JAKARTA 1611 AND PREVIOUS

JAKARTA 00001920 001.2 OF 002


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


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Constitutional Court is slated to rule
on the Bali bombers' last-ditch appeal of their death
sentences on October 21. If the ruling upholds the
sentences, the GOI has announced that it intends to move
forward with execution plans.


2. (C) SUMMARY (Con'd): Despite this announcement, there
continues to be doubt about GOI intentions. Some observers
wonder whether the government will choose to postpone action
until after next year's elections due to concerns about
reaction from Muslim groups. For their part, GOI contacts
say the government will implement the sentences in the
near-term, when all legal avenues are exhausted. END SUMMARY.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO RULE


3. (C) The Bali bombers' case may be approaching its legal
end-game. The Constitutional Court is scheduled on October
21 to read its verdict in the Bali bombers' appeal against
the form of death penalty used in Indonesia. The Bali
bombers' attorneys asked the Constitutional Court to review
whether execution by firing squad constituted torture and was
therefore unconstitutional (ref A). The Court is also
evaluating the legal basis for Indonesia's death penalty.


4. (C) The case is an important one for the Indonesian
judiciary. It will be a bellwether for the new Chief
Justice, Mohammad Mahfud Mahmodin (known as "Mahfud"),who is
said to be rigorous in his judicial reasoning and commitment
to a secular Indonesia (ref B). According to an adviser to
the Constitutional Court, the general consensus among the
Court's justices appears to be to uphold the
constitutionality of Indonesia's use of capital punishment.
Court contacts say the justices are under political pressure
to uphold the constitutionality of the law.


5. (U) The case was brought to the Constitutional Court by
the Bali bombers' after the convicted terrorists had
exhausted all their appeals in the Supreme Court system. In
terms of the law, the three (all of whom are completely
unrepentant) could still request clemency for their crimes,
though they have publicly stated that they do not plan to do
so.

ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE WAITS FOR RULING


6. (SBU) The Attorney General's Office has announced that it
awaits the ruling and plans to move forward with execution
plans if the Court upholds the sentences. The three
terrorists, Amrozi (one name only),Imam Samudra and Ali
Gufron are on death row, incarcerated on an island prison
located off of Central Java. They were given death sentences
for their roles in the October 2002 Bali bombing that killed
202 people. A special GOI execution squad has been tasked
with moving into place once the executions are ordered by the
government. (Note: The terrorists continue to be given
access to the press. In the sort of remark he has made
before, Amrozi was quoted recently as warning of revenge
attacks should the government execute him and his two

JAKARTA 00001920 002.2 OF 002


friends.)

GOI CONTACTS DENY ANY INTENTION TO POSTPONE


7. (C) Despite this announcement, there continues to be
doubt about GOI intentions. Some observers wonder whether
the government will choose to postpone the executions until
after next year's elections. The basis for this claim is
that the government is afraid of alienating Muslims groups
during this politically sensitive timeframe. A recent
article in the English-language Jakarta Post entitled
"Execution delays could turn terrorists into Martyrs" touched
on this theme.


8. (C) For their part, GOI contacts have told us that the
government plans to move forward promptly with the executions
once all legal roadblocks are out of the way. These contacts
have also noted that very few Indonesians sympathize with the
three bombers, seeing them as terrorists who killed
indiscriminately. Moreover, no mainstream organizations of
whatever stripe have called for the Bali bombers to be spared
execution. In light of this, these contacts say there is no
political dynamic involved in the situation, but only
time-consuming legal and administrative aspects that need to
be fully dealt with.

HEFFERN