Indon focused on bringing Patek to justice

Indonesia wants to see alleged terrorist Umar Patek stand trial over the 2002 Bali bombings, the country's foreign minister says.

Indonesia remains focused on seeing alleged terrorist Umar Patek stand trial over the 2002 Bali bombings, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa says.

Patek was captured in January after almost a decade on the run in the same Pakistani city where al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed earlier this month.

However, questions remain over where the former Jemaah Islamiah (JI) field commander might face trial in relation to the 2002 attacks in Bali, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

While Indonesian officials have previously said their chances of pursuing a case against Patek are limited because counter-terrorism laws introduced in 2003 could not be applied retrospectively, Mr Natalegawa on Friday said his government was still considering its options.

"We have sent a team to Pakistan and we are still now at a stage of trying to ascertain whether there is to be a legal process for Umar Patek in Pakistan itself," he told AAP.

"In other words, the level of Pakistan's own interest in pursuing a legal case against him."

"Only then do we proceed to the next steps, to see whether he will be simply deported from Pakistan or whether he will be extradited."

Mr Natalegawa said Indonesia's chief concern was that Patek be "held to account for what he is alleged to have perpetrated in the past".

"That is our main focus," he said.

Both Australia and the United States, which lost seven people in Bali, also want Patek brought to justice.

Earlier this week, Australia's counter-terrorism ambassador Bill Paterson said Australia was considering the option of Patek facing trial in Australia, but said it would be difficult.

"I think we would find that difficult. We are looking at that," he said.

The comments from Mr Natalegawa came as it emerged two people arrested over a deadly attack on a police outpost in Central Sulawesi this week have links to JI, the group responsible for the Bali bombings.

Two police officers were killed and a third wounded in the shooting in the city of Palu on Wednesday.

It was the latest in a string of attacks on police, and comes after a suicide bombing at a mosque at a police compound in Cirebon, West Java, last month.

Mr Paterson said on Tuesday that he agreed with other assessments that Indonesian militants' "focus has been increasingly over recent times on Indonesian targets rather than the global jihad".

"But having said that, there are no hard and fast rules. I think these are the sort of people that take targets of opportunity when they see them," he said.

"If they find an appropriate Western target ... and they're all set to go then they would go after it I would think."

Abu Bakar Bashir, the former spiritual leader of JI, is currently facing trial in relation to the discovery of terrorist cell that is alleged to have been planning attacks with suicide squads targeting Westerners, political leaders and police in Indonesia.

The 72-year-old's trial, which is in its closing stages, will resume on Monday.


Share

3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world