|
End of the line nears for Bali bombers
THE three Bali bombers are facing execution within a matter of weeks, as Indonesian authorities are believed to have begun the process. Possible dates for the executions currently being touted around the streets of Bali include August 25 or September 9. The three, all sentenced to death in 2003, are the so-called smiling assassin Amrozi, his older brother Mukhlas and the defiant field commander Imam Samudra. All three were jubilant when their death penalties were handed down and have never uttered a word of regret about their murderous deeds. However, lawyers and prosecutors involved in the three cases, who are generally the first to be notified of any impending executions, said yesterday they had not been informed. Lawyer Wirawan Adnan, who was on the legal team representing all three condemned to death, said he was yet to receive official notification but had heard rumours that letters from Indonesian authorities in Jakarta were about to be issued. "I have heard talk out on the streets but that's all I have heard. I have yet to receive the letter of notification. At this point I still do not know which one of them will be executed. I have not been told the timeframe," Mr Adnan said yesterday. The prosecutors who handled each of the cases have also not been told a word yet, although a representative from each of the cases is required to attend the actual execution. Putu Indriarti, who prosecuted the so-called ringleader Mukhlas, said yesterday she had not been told but she was more than ready to stand and watch the terrorist Mukhlas being shot. Talk about the planned executions is now rife in Bali, where many of the Balinese people remain extremely angry about what the terrorists from Jemaah Islamiyah did to their island in October 2002, and from which they are still recovering. Terrorist bombs at the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Appeals by the trio to Indonesia's highest court, the Supreme Court, have been rejected and the trio refused to seek clemency from Indonesia's president. However, the Denpasar District Court, as a matter of practice, sent clemency letters on their behalf in August 2004. Yesterday Suraatmaja, the court public relations officer, said court officials had not yet received a response to the request sent one year ago. Yesterday Indonesian prosecutors also demanded the death sentence for Iwan Darmawan, a key suspect in the 2004 Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta that killed 11 people. Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World 2005-08-12 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=126561 |