Some welcome Amrozi's death sentence, others afraid of reprisals
Some welcome Amrozi's death sentence, others afraid of reprisals
Agencies, Denpasar/Canberra/Sydney/Wellington
Relatives and friends of those killed in last year's Bali bombings have expressed different views on the death sentence passed on Amrozi bin Nurhasyim for planning and executing the Bali bombings.
Some have welcomed the death sentence, others have not, while some have expressed fears that the sentence will spark reprisals from terrorists.
The following are comments from relatives and friends of the victims.
Erniati, an Indonesian woman who lost her husband Badrawan in the bombings, told The Jakarta Post that the death penalty had ended her long wait for justice.
However, that Amrozi had appeared to welcome the sentence reminded her that justice and peace of mind were two different things.
"How can he not feel remorse for what he had done, and act as if the death penalty was nothing. The death sentence was too good a sentence for him," she said as she fought back tears.
Natalie Juniardi, an Australian whose Indonesian husband John Juniardi died in the blasts, also expressed relief at the sentence.
"A lot of relief, I'm happy that Amrozi's over," she said after attending the trial. "I just can't wait for the day that he is actually killed."
Brian Deegan, an Australian magistrate whose 22-year-old son Josh died in the attacks, said he was disappointed with the death penalty and feared terrorist attacks in reprisal.
"I don't believe in the death penalty and I would hate to think that somebody's life was going to be taken in my son's name," Deegan said.
"I suspect that this will in many respects backfire and is going to create a lot more mischief and a lot more misery," he said. "I have no doubt about that, I think it will occur pretty quickly."
Andrew Csabi, an Australian who lost a foot and his other leg at the knee in the attack, said he would have preferred Amrozi be locked away for life.
"I'm relieved in one sense but in the other sense worried because it may release future generations of people who think they need to take up the cause," he said from his home in Queensland state.
Melbourne woman Lynley Huguenin, who suffered burns on up to 30 percent of her body and shrapnel wounds to her legs and lower body, said news of the death sentence did not provide her with a sense of closure.
"The word closure gets thrown around in the media a lot, but I don't think there will ever be closure," the 23-year-old said. "I look in the mirror and I don't look the same as I did 12 months ago. I will never look the same."
Brisbane policeman Mark Andrews, who was injured in the Bali attack along with three of his friends, said he would have preferred Amrozi to be jailed for life.
In Wellington, the mother of a New Zealander killed in the Bali bomb massacre said she was glad a guilty verdict had been delivered to one of the men accused of the attacks but says the decision would not end her grief.
"I'm finding it very difficult to know quite what I feel," said Judy Wellington, whose son Jamie Wellington died alongside New Zealanders Mark Parker and Jared Gane in the attack on October 12, 2002.
In London, relatives of British victims of the Bali bombings reacted with mixed feelings to the death sentence handed to Amrozi.
"For us, we're pleased that we're getting it out of the way," said Tobias Ellwood, whose brother Jonathan was among 26 Britons killed in the October bombings on the Indonesian tourist island.
Families of British victims of the Bali bombings said on Thursday they plan to appeal the death sentence imposed on an Indonesian militant to prevent him becoming a "martyr" for extremists.
"This adds further fuel to fundamentalism," said Susanna Miller after an Indonesian court sentenced Islamic militant Amrozi to death. Miller's brother Dan was killed in the October 12 bombings.
"(Mahatma) Gandhi said an eye for an eye makes the world blind," Miller told Reuters. "We want a cessation of violence. We don't need more death and martyrs."