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Bali father had doubts all along

By Paul Heinrichs
July 25, 2004

Adelaide magistrate Brian Deegan, whose son Joshua died in the Bali bombings, said yesterday he had always doubted the laws that convicted the men behind the tragedy.

"It's something I suspected would happen from day one," he said. The prosecution on retrospective laws always seemed to him to be fraught with danger and legal pitfalls.

"When you couple that with the penalty that has been imposed, I didn't think it was ever going to be ultimately successful," he said. "Not the way they've done it."

An Indonesian Constitutional Court found on Friday that an anti-terrorism law, passed in 2003, could not be retrospectively applied to the October 2002 Bali bombings, throwing into question the convictions of the men behind the bombs.

When contacted by The Sunday Age yesterday, Mr Deegan was cautious about hopes of the penalties sticking, concerned that laws of "double jeopardy" could prevent re-trials.

Instead, he urged the Australian Government to take action to ensure that Hambali, so-called mastermind of the Bali bombings, is tried.

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"Nobody knows where he is, but he is in American custody," he said. "These are the sort of people I really want to see go down.

"What has the Australian Government done to insist that Hambali is handed over to a country for prosecution?

"Would this happen if it was around the other way? No!

"Imagine if Australia had picked up a 9/11 bomber and said 'no, we're going to deal with him'. Oh, like hell!"

Mr Deegan said he felt there never going to be real closure for those involved.

"I am more concerned, and have always been more concerned, that you don't mess around with the small fry. You go for the bigger targets, the people who instigated, paid for it," he said.

Two of the footballers who were severely burnt in the bombing, but survived to give evidence against Amrozi, were more optimistic that the trial results would hold up.

Peter Hughes, 43, who played for the WAFL club Perth, is relaxed about it.

He said he was confident that the bombers would not go scot free, based on his experience in the courtroom face to face with Amrozi, and in discussions with the five judges later.

"It wouldn't matter what they did," he said. "They're guilty, because they said they're guilty. They're not just going to get off. That won't happen."

He expected that if there was a technical acquittal, they would be arrested again the moment they stepped outside court, as happened to Abu Bakar Bashir, the extremist Muslim cleric.

Mr Hughes said he would be willing to go back to Bali to testify all over again if it was required.

"It would still be hard, but I'd do it."

Jason McCartney, the North Melbourne footballer who, despite horrific burns, returned to AFL football last year for one game before retiring, was less affected by the news.

"I just don't know enough about it," he said, preferring to leave speaking to others.

He said that from what he had seen in giving evidence, the judicial system was fairly well run in Indonesia.