BASHIR

Indonesia has dropped a host of charges relating to the Bali bombing against alleged Jemaah Islamiah leader Abu Bakar Bashir.

Indonesian police say they will not charge a militant Islamic cleric for the 2002 nightclub bombing on the island of Bali. The decision was made just days after Indonesia's Constitutional Court limited the use of the country's anti-terrorism legislation.

Indonesian police said Wednesday that Abu Bakar Bashir, the militant cleric alleged to have been the leader of the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, will not be charged in connection with the October 2002 Bali bombing. More than 200 people were killed in that attack. Most of them were young western tourists.

The police probably had no choice but to do this given the court's decision, which said there could be no retroactive use of the Indonesian anti-terrorism legislation. Most legal systems prohibit the use of newly-created legislation to prosecute past crimes. Still, had the Indonesian authorities not dithered so long in pressing charges against Bashir - and had it not rejected the evidence of other intelligence groups - he would probably be on death row today.

While there no evidence of bribery or any political pressure being put on the courts in this instance, it is a mainstay of Indonesian jurisprudence and government.

While I'm generally dismayed at the corruption of the Indonesian legal process, I would keep my objections muted if someone were to pay off a judge to secure a death sentence when Bashir finally comes to trial.

A more sober take on things in Indonesia and the Philippines can be found at the Belmont Club.