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| Down Under |
| Bali bombers call on militia boss Eurico Guterres to testify |
| 2008-09-11 |
| * Bombers want proof death by firing squad hurts * Attempting to delay their executions * They argue they should die 'humanely' LAWYERS for the three death-row Bali bombers will call former East Timor militia leader Eurico Guterres to testify that death by firing squad would constitute torture. Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, Ali Ghufron, also known as Mukhlas, and Imam Samudra are expected to be put to death some time after Idul Fitri, the early-October conclusion to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, The Australian reports. But they are trying to delay their deaths with a constitutional court appeal that argues they should be allowed to die by beheading, lethal injection or some other, more humane means. The trio was responsible for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings in which 202 people, including 88 Australians, were killed. They want Guterres, the only person to have been convicted over the 1999 Indonesian-led rampage in East Timor in which thousands died, to describe how painful various shooting deaths he witnessed were. "We want him to demonstrate that being shot dead constitutes torture, because he's been to war and he's seen that people who are shot do not die straight away," lawyer Wirawan Adnan said. Guterres was released from jail last year when his conviction for crimes against humanity, based on his leadership of pro-Indonesian militias in East Timor, was overturned. The bombers' lawyers are arguing that even though members of a firing squad aim directly at the condemned person's heart, there can still be a delay before they are dead. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |