BALI BOMBERS -- CONSTITUTIONAL COURT UPHOLDS DEATH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001950 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, S/CT, INL FOR BARCLAY/ROESS/BUHLER/CARLON 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: 10/22/2018 TAGS: PGOV PTER KJUS ID AS SUBJECT: BALI BOMBERS -- CONSTITUTIONAL COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY REF: JAKARTA 1920 AND PREVIOUS JAKARTA 00001950 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Constitutional Court has rejected the Bali bombers' last-ditch appeal of their death sentences and upheld that death by firing squad is constitutional. The Indonesian Attorney General has announced that the government intends to move forward with the executions of the three bombers, but no date has been made public. GOI contacts hope that the executions will be carried out soon and do not anticipate a violent reaction. ¶2. (C) SUMMARY (Con'd): Separately, the Jakarta police detained an individual suspected of involvement in sectarian violence in central and eastern Indonesia several years ago. His links to other terrorists and terrorist organizations remain unclear. END SUMMARY. BAD NEWS FOR BOMBERS ¶3. (SBU) On October 21, the Constitutional Court rejected the Bali Bombers' claim that death by firing squad was unconstitutional. In their petition to the court, the defense team claimed that execution by firing squad was painful and constituted torture (and because the Indonesian Constitution banned torture, this form of execution was unconstitutional) (see reftels). In its decision, the court determined that every form of execution causes pain to the condemned but that, if the execution is carried out properly, that pain can be minimized. The appeal was lodged after the convicted terrorists had exhausted all other legal forms of delay through the court system that reports to the country's Supreme Court. They received death sentences for their roles in the October 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people. GOI SAYS IT IS PUSHING AHEAD WITH EXECUTIONS ¶4. (SBU) Attorney General Hendarman Supanji has announced that his office is ready to execute the Bali bombers. The AGO had previously said it would announce the execution date on October 24. Although the three terrorists could still request clemency for their crimes, they have publicly stated that they would not do so. ¶5. (C) A special execution squad reportedly stands ready to move into place once the executions are ordered by the government. The three terrorists, Amrozi (one name only), Imam Samudra and Ali Gufron are incarcerated on an island prison located off of Central Java. Some contacts suggest that the GOI will wait until the conclusion of the Bali Water Sport Games, an international event that attracts tourists, before carrying out the executions. The games end on October ¶26. GOI CONFIDENT ABOUT POSSIBLE REACTION ¶6. (C) The GOI does not anticipate a public outcry if the executions take place. Echoing comments by other GOI contacts, Ansyaad Mbai, Inspector General of the GOI's Counter Terrorism Desk, told poloff that because of the increase in executions before Ramadan, the public had become "desensitized" to the death penalty. He said few Indonesians sympathized with the three bombers because their acts of JAKARTA 00001950 002.2 OF 002 violence killed many locals as well as innocent tourists. ALLEGED MILITANT ARRESTED ¶7. (C) Separately, Indonesian police raided an alleged terrorist safe house in Jakarta on October 21. During the raid, the police arrested an alleged militant, Wahyu aka "Uci," believed to be a member of Kompak, an Islamic militant group, who had been wanted by the Central Sulawesi Police. He is linked to violence in central and eastern Indonesia several years ago. The police reportedly confiscated 21 bullets, three kilograms of explosives, PVC pipes, and bomb-making manuals from the North Jakarta house. The police are still investigating his background and associations. Earlier press reports had linked the alleged militant (and another individual) to Noordin M. Top, a well-known Jemmah Islamiyah leader, but there has been no official confirmation of that association or of ties to any terrorist organization. HUME