Widows want death sentences for all October 12 bombers
Widows want death sentences for all October 12 bombers
Wahyoe Boediwardhana and I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post,
Denpasar, Bali
The trial of the first Bali bomb suspect on Monday has revived
the memories of those people whose husbands, wives, brothers,
sisters, children and friends were killed in the horrible terror
attacks exactly seven months ago.
Four widows of the bomb victims hope to avenge their slain
husbands through the verdict. Others are more composed and trust
the judges to uphold justice.
Wayan Rastini, whose husband Ketut Nana Wijaya was killed in
the blasts, urged that the capital sentence be handed down to
Amrozi, who is charged with purchasing and handling the materials
used in the bombs.
The trial of Amrozi, one of the 33 suspects in the Oct. 12,
2002 bomb attack, is to open on Monday.
"Life imprisonment is not punishment enough for what he and
his friends have done," Rastini said emotionally.
"In fact, there is no punishment that we consider adequate.
Will any sentence bring our husbands back?" said Luh Erniati, the
widow of Gede Badrawan.
The four widows -- Rastini, Erniati, Ketut Jontri and Warti --
are united in their belief that Amrozi deserves to be executed,
but they are split in how the death sentence should be carried
out.
"He should be hung in the city square, where people can take
turns torturing him," said Jontri, who lost her husband Ketut
Cindra.
"We should burn him alive so he will feel the pain that our
husbands felt," Erniati said.
They offered no chance for redemption to the suspects of the
blasts that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
"There is no mercy for them. No matter how much they might
suffer in the future, I will never, ever, forgive them," Warti
said, her face stiffening.
Erniati said she could not understand why Amrozi showed no
regret, although he faced a maximum sentence of death.
"I hate Amrozi particularly, because he still smiles to the
media after his brutal act of violence," she said.
However, not all the families and friends of the victims were
as bitter and vengeful as the widows.
Johan Duka, 37, said that he harbored no hatred toward the
suspects.
"I did not hate them before, and I do not hate them now. There
is no hatred or anger in my heart," he asserted.
Johan was standing only 10 meters from the center of the
explosion outside the Sari Club. The blast severely injured him
and instantly killed his brother Tata Yanto Rusli Duka, a bouncer
at the Sari Club. Johan spent the next two months in a hospital
bed.
"After the tragedy, I spent more and more time to bring myself
closer to the Lord. Since last month, I have been blessed with
the ability to heal people through prayer," he said.
He said he had left all matters concerning the punishment of
the terror suspects in the hands of God, and that he had no
intention to go to the trial venue -- nor will he follow the
trial on television.
"I have more important things to do. I have to pray for a lot
of people that day," he said.
Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika has called
on people to watch the trial on TV, fearing that they might lose
their self-control if they were in the same room as the suspects.
Lawyers representing the suspects had called for the trial to
be moved from Bali, but the request was denied.