Bali court vows to speed up execution of bombers
Bali court vows to speed up execution of bombers
Agence France-Presse, Denpasar
The district court on the island of Bali said on Monday
officials would be sent to the prison holding three men convicted
of the 2002 Bali bombings to speed up their executions.
Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra were sentenced to death by
firing squad in August 2003 for their roles in the nightclub
bombings on Oct. 12, 2002 that killed 202 people and dealt
tourism on the resort island a heavy blow.
The head of the Denpasar District Court, I Nengah Suriada,
told more than 50 protesters gathered in front of the provincial
legislative council that prosecutors, politicians and judges had
all agreed on a speedy execution.
"We need the statement of Amrozi and his friends, or their
families ... on whether they will request a presidential pardon
or not," Nengah Suriada said.
A team of local politicians, prosecutors and court officials
would be dispatched "within weeks" to the prison island of
Nusakambangan, off the south coast of Java, to seek the
statements once funding had been finalized, he said.
Indonesian law says the convicts cannot be executed until all
legal avenues have been exhausted.
Three more bombings on the island earlier this month, which
killed 23 people including three suicide bombers, further angered
many Balinese already upset by the slow pace of Indonesian
justice.
A crowd of more than 1,000 last week ripped down the large
steel gates that surround Kerobokan, the Bali prison that had
housed the three convicted bombers until they were moved to the
more secure facility on Nusakambangan.
Monday's protest was peaceful with dozens of people holding
banners and burning an effigy made out of hay and inscribed with
the words "Amrozi and friends".
One banner said "Mr President, we need justice", another,
"Amrozi and friends should become animal sacrifices for the
people of Bali".
Animals are regularly slaughtered on Bali, a Hindu enclave in
mainly Muslim Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the National Police began distributing tens of
thousands of new photographs showing the computer-reconstructed
faces of the three suicide bombers of the Oct. 1 incident.
More than two weeks after the blasts, police are still in the
dark as to the identity of the bombers and those behind the
attacks.