Bali bombing suspect displays no fear of death sentence
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.