Samudra's death sentence hailed

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Relatives and friends of the victims of the Oct. 12 Bali bombings hailed on Wednesday the death sentence for Abdul Azis alias Imam Samudra, the "intellectual mastermind" of the bombings that claimed the lives of 2002 people.

Ketut Jontri, a Balinese woman whose husband, a taxi driver, was killed in the blast, told AFP news agency that she was "very pleased" with the sentence.

"One thing that I really want is to watch him executed -- because otherwise I will not believe that he has really been executed," she said.

"He should be executed. That's the only fitting punishment, his behavior was so vicious," said security guard I Nyoman Sulendra after he had placed a small floral wreath at a Hindu altar near the destroyed nightclubs.

Melbourne businessman Jan Liczynsky, who came to the resort island to show his support for the trial, said that it was an appropriate sentence for Samudra.

"I am happy with the verdict. I lost many friends in the tragedy," he said.

Carrying a huge Australian flag plastered with the pictures of the Australian bomb victims and sporting a white Sari Club T- shirt, Jan said the club was his favorite spot on his many vacations in Bali.

An unidentified Australian relative of one victim told Elshinta radio he was "very happy" with the outcome.

"Tonight when he sits back in his cell he might think about the people that he'd actually killed, he might actually finally start to feel some remorse away from the cameras. Who knows?"

Judges at the Denpasar District Court sentenced Imam Samudra to death by firing squad on Wednesday after finding him guilty of masterminding the Bali blast. "Imam Samudra has been clearly proven to have planned a terrorist act, and we hand down the sentence of death," Judge Wayan Sugawa said.

Samudra is the second Indonesian to be sentenced to death by firing squad under Indonesia's tough antiterrorist law which was passed last year, shortly after the Bali bombings.

On Aug. 7, the same district court handed down the death sentence for Amrozi, another key suspect in the Bali bombing case.

Earlier this week three accomplices in the Bali case were handed down prison terms ranging between 15 and 16 years for taking part in the Serang jewelry store robbery.

Other key suspects awaiting their fate in the coming weeks are an alleged senior JI operative called Mukhlas, who is said to have authorized Samudra to go ahead with the attack, and Ali Imron, one of the bombmakers.

Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imron are brothers.

The court's death sentence was anticipated. "A lot of people would have been surprised and not particularly amused if he hadn't gotten death," said one Western diplomat.

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia David Ritchie said that his country welcomed the verdict for Samudra, saying that it was another sign that the Indonesian government was serious in its efforts in combating terrorism.

"We welcome all efforts taken by Indonesian government not only on the investigation and the capture of Imam Samudra, but also in the court proceedings.

"We hope that the verdict would give some relief and satisfaction to Australian people who lost family members in the Bali bombing," Ritchie told reporters after holding a meeting with Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in Central Jakarta.

Noted Muslim scholar Komaruddin Hidayat of Paramadina University said that the death sentence for Samudra proved that Indonesia was indeed serious in its drive against terrorism.

The death sentence was the most plausible result, given the fact that public opinion, supporting evidence and common sense, all had turned against Samudra.

"Since the legal proceedings were conducted in a transparent manner and based on solid evidence, we can disregard the opinion that the trial was stage-managed by the government to meet the objectives of certain countries," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said that the judge's ruling indicated the success of the police in their crackdown on the terrorist network in the country. "The judges will not hand down the death sentence if there is no convincing evidence," he said.

The family of Samudra, however, rejected the court's ruling saying that it was "engineered by humans and it was not a punishment from God."

"Our family hopes that he will be set free. Hopefully there will be a miracle from God Almighty," Nunung, the sister of Samudra said.

Samudra's lawyers say he has told them to appeal because he should have been tried under Islamic law.