Samudra's death sentence hailed

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.