Bali bombing suspect goes on trial

The first of 33 suspects accused in last year’s devastating Bali bombing went on trial today, accused of buying the minivan and bomb-making material used in the attack.

Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, a 40-year-old mechanic, is charged with planning and carrying out an act of terrorism that caused “massive casualties”, one of the prosecutors told the Bali court.

The October 12, 2002 attack at two packed nightclubs killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.

If convicted, Amrozi faces the death penalty under newly enacted anti-terror laws.

Amrozi arrived to the makeshift courthouse at about 1am Irish time, in a convoy of armed police vehicles.

He said nothing as he was rushed into the courtroom past hundreds of waiting reporters and armed police officers.

Dressed in brown shirt and slacks, Amrozi exhibited none of his earlier cockiness as he faced the three-judge panel.

He gave a series of single word answers to questions from the judge, including age, religion and whether he had a criminal record.

Police – who investigated the bombings along with their Australian counterparts – say they have a strong case, noting they have a confession from Amrozi, testimony from 102 witnesses and several items of physical evidence, including receipts for the explosives and the chassis of the minivan used in the attack.

Outside the courthouse, the scene was relatively quiet, with only a handful of Balinese showing up to catch a glimpse of the alleged bomber.

Roads on either side of the building were blocked and police patrolled the area.

About 400 people – most of them journalist and diplomats – were packed inside the courtroom.

“I was furious,” said Wayan Sumerta, a 35-year-old driver who arrived three hours early to get a seat.

“I had to come and see him in the flesh. Let’s just kill him. He killed our friends after all.”

The trial was televised and was expected to last several months.

Amrozi’s trial and those of other suspects are seen as tests of Indonesia’s notoriously inefficient legal system and its commitment to crack down on Islamic extremism.

Indonesia has won praise since the blasts for working with US and Australian investigators to hunt down suspects after earlier ignoring warnings by foreign governments that terrorists were targeting Indonesia.

Amrozi’s arrest on November 5 last year in his home village of Tenggulun, in central Java, was the first major breakthrough in the investigation.

Soon after, Amrozi was shown on TV laughing and smiling with Indonesian police during a bizarre public interrogation, sparking outrage in Australia, home to 88 of the victims.

The trials are also expected to shed light on the al Qaida-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, a shadowy organisation which the United States and other governments claim carried out the attack.

Jemaah Islamiyah allegedly wants to create an Islamic state in Southeast Asia, and has been blamed for a string of bombings in Indonesia and thwarted attacks on the US Embassy and other Western targets in Singapore.

In another high-profile case, Jemaah Islamiyah’s alleged leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, is on trial in Jakarta for treason.

Police say they have yet to find evidence he was involved in the Bali attack but have accused him in a string of church bombings in 2000, which they say were aimed at destabilising the secular government of Indonesia.

Singapore and Malaysia have arrested scores of people they say are Jemaah Islamiyah activists over the last year, although none has yet been bought to trial.