Indonesia court rejects moving Bali bombers hearing
DENPASAR, Indonesia, Feb 28 (Reuters) - An Indonesian court rejected a request on Thursday from three Islamic militants on death row for the 2002 Bali bombings to shift their case review hearing to a court near their maximum security jail.
A lawyer for the three Bali bombers -- Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas -- had argued that moving the hearings to Central Java's Cilacap district, near the prison where they are being held, would make it easier to produce more evidence and witnesses.
But a Denpasar court judge dismissed the argument.
"The convicts' argue that it is to present new evidence and witnesses, and that it will be easier for expert witnesses to appear in Cilacap's district court, but no detailed explanation of the argument has been given, hence it is rejected," Ida Bagus Putu Madeg, presiding judge for Samudra's case, said.
The three men face death by firing squad for their role in the two nightclub blasts which killed more than 200 people, including foreign tourists and Indonesians.
Indonesia's Supreme Court struck down the three men's final appeal in March 2004, and rejected a similar request for a case review last year.
But lawyers have argued that the first case review was not heard according to proper procedures.
The judge also said that the Denpasar court, which is holding separate hearings for each of the Bali bombers, did not have the jurisdiction to decide whether or not the three convicts could be allowed to testify in Cilacap, something that only the Supreme Court could decide.
The district court in Denpasar would now proceed with the case review on March 10 when new evidence and expert witnesses were due to be presented. Under Indonesian law, the Bali court will submit results of the review to the Supreme Court, which will then give a verdict.
The Bali bombers said in a statement read out by their lawyers in October that if they were executed, their blood would "become the light for the faithful ones and burning hell fire for the infidels and hypocrites".
They have also repeatedly said they would not seek for a clemency from the president, saying that they want to die as martyrs.
(Writing by Mita Valina Liem, editing by Ed Davies and Sanjeev Miglani)
