VZCZCXRO3812
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1573/01 2320914
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 190914Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9835
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 2919
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1212
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 1183
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2125
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 3930
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 4825
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2381
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2965
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 2894
RUEHBAD/AMCONSUL PERTH 1055
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001573 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, S/CT, INL FOR 
BARCLAY/BOULDIN/BUHLER 
DOJ FOR CRIM AAG SWARTZ, DOJ/OPDAT FOR 
LEHMANN/ALEXANDRE/BERMAN 
DOJ/CTS FOR MULLANEY, ST HILAIRE 
FBI FOR ETTUI/SSA ROTH 
NCTC WASHDC 
NSC FOR E.PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/19/2018 
TAGS: PGOV CTER ASES ID AS
SUBJECT: BALI BOMBERS FILE ANOTHER APPEAL, BUT GOI SAYS 
EXECUTION PLANS ARE MOVING FORWARD 
 
REF: JAKARTA 1463 AND PREVIOUS 
 
JAKARTA 00001573  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  The three Bali bombers have filed a 
last-ditch appeal of their case to Indonesia's Constitutional 
Court.  GOI officials have underscored that the terrorists 
have already used up all of their appeals in the Supreme 
Court system and, thus, can be executed at any time.  Most 
contacts believe that the executions could very well happen 
before September 1, the start of the month-long Ramadan 
fasting timeframe.  One contact in the President's Office 
told us that "everything is ready to go," but he did not 
predict that any action was necessarily imminent. 
 
¶2.  (C) SUMMARY (Con'd):  In other news related to law 
enforcement, the GOI announced on August 17 (Indonesia's 
national day) its annual remissions list.  Unlike past years, 
no well-known terrorists reportedly had their sentences 
remitted.  As part of the announcement, which basically 
impacts all prisoners who exhibit "good behavior," the 
convicted killer of Munir Thalib, the well-known human rights 
activist, had his 20-year prison sentence remitted by three 
months.  Pol/C expressed concern about this to a GOI contact. 
 END SUMMARY. 
 
BALI BOMBERS LODGE APPEAL 
 
¶3.  (C) The Bali bombers' case continues to make news.  The 
three, who were sentenced to death for their roles in the 
October 2002 bombings, have appealed their sentences to the 
Constitutional Court.  The three (and their lawyers) 
vociferously claim that execution by firing squad--the 
mandated mode in Indonesia--is "torture" and thus prohibited 
per the Indonesian Constitution.  The three also lodged some 
other less-central claims.  The Constitutional Court has not 
yet announced whether it plans to hold a hearing on the 
matter or form a bench to review the claims on a substantive 
basis. 
 
GOI SAYS IT CAN MOVE FORWARD 
 
¶4.  (C) The GOI, for its part, is not impressed.  Unnamed 
officials were quoted in the press as stating that the 
Constitutional Court should not be involved in the matter. 
They say that the Supreme Court--which rules on issues 
related to crime and terrorism after appeals are launched up 
the chain from the court of first instance--has already fully 
judged the case and thus the three have already "used up" 
their appeals.  Thus, per this line of reasoning, the 
executions could happen "at any time." 
 
¶5.  (C) The GOI seems serious about moving forward.  In 
recent meetings with Pol/C, representatives of the 
President's and the Vice President's Offices both said that 
the GOI was ready to execute the three.  Tri Sukma "Nanu" 
Djandam, an assistant in the President's International 
Relations Office, told Pol/C on August 19 that "everything is 
ready to go."  That said, he did not predict when the 
executions would actually take place.  He commented that it 
was "highly unlikely" that the three would be executed during 
Ramadan, an important Muslim timeframe which begins in 
Indonesia on September 1 and lasts one month.  He said that 
left the rest of August or after Ramadan. 
 
JAKARTA 00001573  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
SECURITY TIGHTENED AT PRISON 
 
¶6.  (C) There are reports that security has been further 
tightened in the area of the prison where the three 
terrorists are incarcerated.  The prison, which is located on 
Nusa Kambangan Island off the coast of Central Java, is 
considered high-security, holding many of the country's most 
dangerous criminals.  According to reports, police 
reinforcements have been sent to the wider area in order to 
make sure that there are no security incidents.  The three 
prisoners have been given access to their families and 
lawyers.  The warden of the prisoner has been quoted as 
stating that the prison is preparing for the executions.  The 
three were not allowed, for example, to attend the August 17 
national day celebrations at the prison.  The warden stated 
to the press:  "We do not want to run the risk of letting 
them participate in the ceremony and having any incident at 
this time.  We have difficulties managing their 
behavior--they always insult people in the prison, including 
guards." 
 
REMISSIONS 
 
¶7.  (C) In other news, the GOI has announced its annual 
"remissions" of prisoner sentences.  The GOI announced the 
list on August 17, Indonesia's national day.  The list 
included over 62,000 names of prisoners.  Some 5,000 
prisoners walked free due to the remission of their sentences 
(the remissions generally were for about three months for 
each prisoner, so if someone walked free they were near the 
end of their sentence).  Unlike past years, no well-known 
terrorists had their sentences remitted as far as we are 
aware.  Mission is trying to confirm this with the GOI. 
 
¶8.  (C) As part of the announcement, which basically impacts 
all prisoners who exhibit "good behavior," the convicted 
killer of Munir Thalib, the well-known human rights activist, 
had his 20-year prison sentence remitted by three months.  In 
his meeting with Djandam of the President's Office, Pol/C 
noted that it was very unfortunate that Pollycarpus Budihari 
Priyono (the convicted murderer) was able to benefit from the 
announcement given the brutality and shocking nature of the 
crime.  Djandam said he appreciated that, but added that 
Pollycarpus had "apparently exhibited the good behavior 
necessary and thus met the general criteria." 
 
¶9.  (U) (Note:  Well known convicted drug smuggler, 
Australian national Schapelle Corby, also benefited from the 
remission policy as did some members of the Bali "Nine" 
heroin smuggling ring, which also includes Australian 
nationals.) 
 
¶10.  (C) After years of criticism of the seeming liberality 
of its remissions policy, the government has put in place new 
rules, which will cut down on the number of remissions. 
Prisoners convicted since October 2007 of any crime involving 
narcotics, terrorism, corruption or illegal logging will no 
longer be eligible to have their sentences remitted.  The new 
rules are not retroactive, however. 
 
HUME