Bali bombing suspect displays no fear of death sentence

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

On the eve of his judgment day, Abdul Aziz alias Imam Samudra, the alleged mastermind and field coordinator of last October's Bali bombings, said on Tuesday that he was not afraid of the death sentence.

"Allahu Akbar (God is Great), I am not afraid of the death sentence," he screamed while raising a copy of the Koran with his handcuffed hands.

Samudra will hear on Wednesday the much-awaited verdict of the judges, who may fulfill the prosecutors' demands for the death sentence. The verdict will come on the eve of the commemoration of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack on the United States.

The likelihood is that the panel of judges, led by Tjok Rai Suamba, will sentence computer expert Samudra to death, considering his defiance and persistent refusal to cooperate with the court and his lack of remorse.

Samudra was charged with "planning, conspiring and organizing terrorist attacks", a grave violation of Article 14 of Law No. 15/2003 on antiterrorism. The article carries the maximum penalty of death.

Samudra expressed his readiness to accept the verdict when he was being dragged from the Bali Police Criminal Investigation Directorate's building to a waiting armored vehicle that would carry him back to his cell at the Mobile Brigade detention center.

He was taken to the building for a brief interrogation and psychological examination, which lasted approximately 30 minutes.

Samudra was hostile when he arrived at the building. The moment he alighted the armored vehicle he started screaming towards a group of some 20 journalists near the building's gate.

When a foreign journalist asked whether he was willing to be taken to Australia, Samudra instantly retorted with harsh words and challenges.

Bali police spokeswoman Sr. Comr. Rosalia P. Gaut said the mental examination was related to Samudra's refusal to provide information concerning another suspect, Idris, to the investigators.

Idris, alias Jhony Hendrawan, was the last of the 36 suspects to have been arrested by police.

"Recently, Imam refused to be questioned. He claimed that he had been too exhausted to do so. We are now persuading him to keep supplying us with information on Idris," she said.

Idris was believed to have played an important role in mixing the explosive compounds and assembling the bombs, which were later used in the attacks that killed at least 202 people, mostly foreigners, in the popular Bali resort area of Kuta.