Bali bombers expected to appeal

Lawyers for the 32 militants convicted in the Bali bombings two years ago today said they expect many to appeal after a court ruled that tough anti-terror laws passed last year could not be used retroactively.

But Indonesian justice minister Yusril Mahendra insisted that the convictions for the October 2002 attack that killed 202 people will stand despite the Constitutional Court's decision.

Indonesia’s anti-terror laws – passed in the months after the Bali blasts - could not be used for crimes committed before their enactment, the court ruled.

But Mahendra said: “Their convictions remain legal because they were made before the Constitutional Court ruled Friday.”

The court’s 5-4 majority decision was in response to an appeal by Masykur Abdul Kadir, who was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison for helping the Bali bombers by providing transport and accommodation.

Thirty-two Bali bombers have been convicted under the anti-terror laws. The laws gave investigators broader powers, allowed for the death penalty and categorised terrorism as an extraordinary crime.

The ruling will not immediately change the legal standing of the other 31 convicts – three have been sentenced to death, while 28 others have been sentenced to between three years and life imprisonment over the bombings.

But lawyers for those convicted and an expert on Indonesian law said it would lead to a wave of fresh appeals and judicial reviews of Bali bombing cases.

“He (Mahendra) is just wrong,” said Tim Lindsey, director of the Asian Law Centre at University of Melbourne, Australia.

“It’s a basic principal that if something is constitutionally invalid, it can never be valid,” he said. “It doesn’t become invalid from the moment the court identifies it...We’ll see a waive of appeals or applications for judicial reviews. In the end, they will have to quash those convictions.”

The ruling also is expected to complicate efforts to prosecute others awaiting trial in the bombings. Among them is Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged head of Jemaah Islamiyah, the al Qaida-linked terrorist group blamed for the attacks.

Bashir is being held in police custody awaiting trial on charges he was involved a string of attacks, including the Bali bombings. Authorities had planned to use the country’s anti-terror law against him.

Bashir, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, unsuccessfully sued the court to gain his release, arguing that his detention was illegal because it was carried out on orders from a foreign government. His appeal is pending and he could use the Constitutional Court ruling to bolster his case.

In Australia, Prime Minister John Howard said his government would push to ensure the Bali bombers are punished.

“Every effort is being made by this government, in cooperation with the authorities in Indonesia, to ensure that the overwhelming desire of the people of both our countries (is met) – and that is, that those responsible for these horrible deeds are appropriately punished according to the full vigour of Indonesian law,” Mr Howard said.