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May 9, 2006

Indonesia: Islamists In Bali Bomb Trial

News from the Times of India, from Voice of America, the BBC, Antara News, the International Herald Tribune and Associated Press via Mainichi News and China People's Daily, reports that earlier today, four people appeared in court in Denpasar on Bali in Indonesia. The four, who are being tried in separate courtrooms, are accused of involvement with the triple suicide bombings which took place on Bali on October 1, 2005.

The four accused are Dwi Widianto, aged 30, Mohammad Cholily, aged 28, Abdul Aziz, aged 30 and Anif Solchanudin, aged 24.

According to their indictments, the men are accused of "carrying out or taking part" in the blasts which occurred at crowded restaurants frequented by tourists. They are said to have made, supplied and transported the bomb materials, and also sheltered the terrorist Noordin Mohammed Top. The plotters, according to court indictments, had communicated by instant messaging on the internet, and the bombs were put together on the large island of Java before being transported to Bali, where they were put in rucksacks used by the three suicide bombers.

According to prosecutors, Abdul Aziz placed Noordin Top's message of responsibility on the internet following the attacks. Anif Solchanudin had been trained to act as a fourth suicide bomber, but did not take part in the actual attacks. The prosecutor in his trial said: "He was told that if he spilled his own blood then the doors of heaven would be open for him and 70 members of his family."

The bombings on Bali killed 20 people, not including the perpetrators. Four Australians and one Japanese died in the blasts, with the other dead all being Indonesians. At least 100 people were wounded. The bombings were carried out by Jemaah Islamiyah, the Islamist terror group which attacked the Australian Embassy on September 9, 2004, and the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on August 5, 2003. 11 people were killed in the embassy blast, and 12 were wounded at the Marriott Hotel.

The Jemaah Islamiyah group, with the assistance of Noordin Top, had carried out the previous bomb atrocity on Bali on 12 October 2002, in which 202 people were killed. Many of these were Australian tourists.

Mohammad Cholily (pictured) is accused of being a trainee bomb maker, and Dwi Widiyarto is thought to have made a notorious video, which showed Noordin Top threatening the West with further attacks. Abdul Aziz is charged with sheltering Noordin Top.

Olopan Nainggolan, one of the prosecutors, read out a statement which was made by Noordin Top in the video, filmed shortly after the Bali 2005 blasts. This claimed: "We declare our enemies are those that help the American alliance kill Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was revenge for that."

The courthouse was surrounded by high security. The trials were conducted fairly peacefully, but Mohammad Cholily did shout as he was leaving the courtroom: "God is Great."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 9, 2006 9:29 PM

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