Still Smiling: Suspected Bali bomber stands trial

JAKARTA: Umar Patek, arrested in Abbottabad stood trial Monday on charges including murder for the 2002 Bali bombings. He faces five other counts, including bomb-making and illegal firearms possession, and prosecutors say they will push for the death penalty. Amid a security lockdown, with anti-terrorism units deployed in Jakarta, Patek arrived at the court in an armoured police vehicle, giving two-thumbs up gesture with his handcuffed hands, but said nothing. The Indonesian is charged with premeditated murder and assembling bombs for the October 2002 Bali nightclub attacks, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians, and strikes on churches in Jakarta on Christmas Eve of 2000. “Defendant Umar Patek committed an evil conspiracy with others to commit a crime by bringing in, obtaining, providing or owning firearms, ammunition or explosive materials and other dangerous materials to carry out terrorism,” prosecutor Widodo Supriady said, reading part of the indictment to court.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2012.