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 Tuesday, 7 January, 2003, 09:16 GMT
Lawyers want Bali trials moved
Woman and girl lay flowers as a tribute to the Bali victims, October 2002
Bali is struggling to recover from the nightclub bombings
Lawyers for the Bali bomb suspects have called for the trials to be moved from the island after the second attack in two days on a member of the defence team.

The trials need to be moved... and be held anywhere but here

Made Rachman Marasabessy, lawyer
Lawyer Made Rachman Marasabessy said he was punched and jostled as he left a pre-trial hearing in Denpasar on Tuesday, a day after he and another lawyer were pelted with eggs.

Indonesian authorities hope to start putting suspects on trial as early as next month.

But public anger on the island is still running high after the October bombings seriously damaged the island's image and economy. Several Balinese were among the nearly 200 mostly foreign tourists killed in the nightclub bombings.

Balinese weep for those killed in the 12 October 2002 bombs
Lawyers say Bali is too emotionally linked to the trials
.

Defence lawyers said they would ask Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra to move the trial venue to somewhere else in Indonesia.

"I was punched by someone who I couldn't see," Mr Marasabessy told El Shintra radio. "Police tried to cover me but I was hit from the side which made me fall.

"The trials need to be moved... and be held anywhere but here."

Police investigation

The chief investigator of the Bali bombing, General I Made Mangku Pastika, has insisted the trial would stay in Denpasar.

Mr Marasabessy is defending a suspect called Maskur, who is accused of finding a house to rent for one of the key suspects, Imam Samudra.

On Monday, police handed prosecutors a 1,623-page file setting out their case against another key suspect, known as Amrozi.

Indonesian legal system
Police prepare evidence
If prosecutors satisfied, they prepare charges
Prosecutors put charges to defendant in court
Amrozi is accused of purchasing and delivering the explosives used in the nightclub attack.

Under Indonesia's legal system, state prosecutors have two weeks to decide whether the evidence is strong enough to justify taking him to court.

Files are being prepared on 14 other suspects. If they are charged under new Indonesian anti-terrorism laws they could face the death penalty under new Indonesian anti-terrorism laws.

Elsewhere in Indonesia, police in South Sulawesi province on Tuesday said they had found three training camps believed to be linked to the suspects in a deadly bomb last month at a McDonald's restaurant.

Local residents suspect the camps, which are now deserted, were used by suspects in the attacks in Makassar, a police spokesman said.

Police have previously said the McDonald's bombers were part of the same network that carried out the Bali attacks.


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06 Jan 03 | Asia-Pacific
30 Nov 02 | Africa
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