Bali Case against Abu Bakar Dropped

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Indonesian police have dropped plans to charge Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir over the 2002 Bali bombings. But he will still be charged with heading Jemaah Islamiah, the Islamic group blamed for the attacks, according to Detective Chief Suyitno Landung. The announcement came after a ruling that an anti-terror law used to convict the Bali bombers was applied illegally. The constitutional court said last week that the law, passed after the Bali attacks, could not apply retroactively. Landung told reporters that police would delete accusations related to the Bali attack when preparing for Ba'asyir's trial. But he said Abu Bakar would still be accused of leading Jemaah Islamiah (JI), as well as other crimes including the bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta last year. It is unclear whether the decision to drop charges relating to the Bali attacks will make it more difficult to secure a conviction against the aging cleric, who has already been cleared once of being JI's leader. Ba'asyir was first arrested shortly after the Bali bombings, in which 202 people - mostly Australian tourists - were killed. He was originally accused of plotting to overthrow the government as the alleged spiritual leader of JI. But he was cleared of the treason charge in September 2003, after judges said there was not enough evidence to prove he was JI's spiritual head. He was instead jailed for four years for subversion and immigration offences, the subversion charge later being overturned on appeal. He was due to be released in April 2004, but was re-arrested because of new information. He is now still in detention, being questioned further by investigators. He can be held until September before formal charges are laid. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. (AP)

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