Bali verdict: a political show trial based on unconstitutional law

Bali verdict: a political show trial based on unconstitutional law
By Mike Head
14 August 2003

Acting under direct pressure from Western governments for swift convictions and severe punishments, a special Indonesian court last week sentenced Amrozi bin Nurhasyim to death for his alleged part in the October 2002 Bali bombing. The proceedings became a political show trial, testing out anti-terrorist decrees imposed by President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s administration one week after the Bali explosion.

From his conduct in the courtroom, Amrozi is a fanatical Islamic fundamentalist and anti-Semite, showing no remorse for his actions or sympathy for the bombs’ hundreds of victims. From the evidence and his own statements, he played a minor logistical role in the Bali attack. He admitted to buying and transporting the explosives used in the blast.

But his entire trial was based on laws that were retrospectively applied and therefore clearly breach the Indonesian Constitution, setting a precedent that can be used against anyone perceived as an opponent of the Indonesian regime. His lawyers have announced that they will appeal his case all the way to the highest Indonesian court, the newly established Constitutional Court.

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Encouraged by the favourable response to Amrozi’s conviction in the international media, several government and military leaders immediately demanded even tougher anti-democratic measures. Indonesia’s military chief backed calls by Defence Minister Matori Abdul Jalil for the security agencies, including the armed forces, to be authorised to detain indefinitely anyone deemed to be a threat to national security.

General Endriatono Sutarto complained that the anti-terrorist laws were not as effective as Suharto’s subversion laws because the security forces lacked the power to detain people as a preventative measure. A police general declared that the police would “like to take off the streets” about 300 people. One of Megawati’s palace officials, Rizal Malarangeng added his voice, telling the Singapore-based Straits Times: “We need to wipe out these radicals at all costs. We need to throw them in jail so that we can preserve our freedom.”

By endorsing the violation of democratic and constitutional rights in the Bali trials, the Australian media, together with the Howard government, are directly facilitating the return of authoritarian rule to Indonesia. These methods will, in turn, only assist Islamic fundamentalists to exploit political and social discontent for their own reactionary ends.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/aug2003/indo-a14.shtml