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CNN Live At Daybreak

Trial Begins for First Suspect in Bali Nightclub Bombings

Aired May 12, 2003 - 05:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In the global war on terrorism, the spotlight is on Indonesia this morning. A trial has begun for the first suspect in the Bali nightclub bombings that killed more than 200 people, most of them tourists.
CNN's Atika Shubert joins us by phone from Bali with details on the first day -- good morning.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well, today is really the first day of what will be a very long and drawn out legal process. In fact, more than 30 suspects will eventually be brought to trial, all of them believed to be involved in the Bali terrorist attacks last year.

Now, today the first person to be tried was Amrozi bin Nurhasyim. Prosecutors used today's session to read out the charges against him, which is four counts of terrorism in total. They allege that Amrozi not only helped to plan the attacks, but that he also bought the chemicals and the car used to create the bombs that were used.

Now, Amrozi himself has actually confessed to the attacks. He told police under interrogation that the terrorist attack was part of a Jihad or Islamic holy war against Westerners, particularly Americans -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I was just wondering about the intense security and whether you could describe that for us.

SHUBERT: There was certainly very high security. There were hundreds of police on guard, some of them armed. There was particularly high security when the defendant, Amrozi, was brought in. It also has to be said, there were also hundreds of reporters that were there. There's incredible pressure on the Indonesian government to make sure that this is a transparent and fair trial and to make sure that justice is delivered.

COSTELLO: And I'm just looking at these pictures, and the suspect seems to be smiling quite a lot. How was his demeanor now that the trial has begun?

SHUBERT: That's right. At one point, Amrozi was actually known as the laughing bomber or the smiling assassin because every time he was photographed, every time he met with the press, he would always be laughing and seemingly joking. Now this, of course, is a very sensitive issue, particularly for many Australian victims. They were, of course, made up most of the victims in the Bali blast. And police have been more sensitive to that this time.

Nonetheless, it goes to show that Amrozi, this suspect in particular shows very little remorse for what he did. In fact, on the statement that he made to police was that his only regret was that he was not able to kill more Americans, that he killed other foreigners besides Americans -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Atika Shubert reporting live from Bali.

Many thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 12, 2003 - 05:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In the global war on terrorism, the spotlight is on Indonesia this morning. A trial has begun for the first suspect in the Bali nightclub bombings that killed more than 200 people, most of them tourists.
CNN's Atika Shubert joins us by phone from Bali with details on the first day -- good morning.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well, today is really the first day of what will be a very long and drawn out legal process. In fact, more than 30 suspects will eventually be brought to trial, all of them believed to be involved in the Bali terrorist attacks last year.

Now, today the first person to be tried was Amrozi bin Nurhasyim. Prosecutors used today's session to read out the charges against him, which is four counts of terrorism in total. They allege that Amrozi not only helped to plan the attacks, but that he also bought the chemicals and the car used to create the bombs that were used.

Now, Amrozi himself has actually confessed to the attacks. He told police under interrogation that the terrorist attack was part of a Jihad or Islamic holy war against Westerners, particularly Americans -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I was just wondering about the intense security and whether you could describe that for us.

SHUBERT: There was certainly very high security. There were hundreds of police on guard, some of them armed. There was particularly high security when the defendant, Amrozi, was brought in. It also has to be said, there were also hundreds of reporters that were there. There's incredible pressure on the Indonesian government to make sure that this is a transparent and fair trial and to make sure that justice is delivered.

COSTELLO: And I'm just looking at these pictures, and the suspect seems to be smiling quite a lot. How was his demeanor now that the trial has begun?

SHUBERT: That's right. At one point, Amrozi was actually known as the laughing bomber or the smiling assassin because every time he was photographed, every time he met with the press, he would always be laughing and seemingly joking. Now this, of course, is a very sensitive issue, particularly for many Australian victims. They were, of course, made up most of the victims in the Bali blast. And police have been more sensitive to that this time.

Nonetheless, it goes to show that Amrozi, this suspect in particular shows very little remorse for what he did. In fact, on the statement that he made to police was that his only regret was that he was not able to kill more Americans, that he killed other foreigners besides Americans -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Atika Shubert reporting live from Bali.

Many thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com