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Bali's death row bombers decline to seek pardon

Posted on: Thursday, 20 October 2005, 01:46 CDT

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Three Indonesian militants on death row for playing major roles in the 2002 Bali bombings have refused to request a presidential pardon and are ready to face the firing squad, a prosecutor said on Thursday.

The decision could bring forward their execution, something ordinary Balinese have demanded in numerous protests on the resort island this month.

Joko Subagyo, state prosecutor in the central Java city of Cilacap, said lawmakers from Bali as well as himself and other local prosecutors notified the three convicted bombers of their rights to request a presidential pardon on Wednesday.

The three militants, Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Ali Gufron, were shipped from Bali to a prison island not far from Cilacap this month as protests and anger grew in the wake of the latest suicide blasts on Bali on October 1 that killed 20 people.

"We went to see them separately and they all rejected sign a form requesting the presidential pardon," Subagyo told Reuters by telephone.

"They said 'I am ready to be executed anytime soon."'

Cilacap is a short ferry ride from the high-security prison island of Nusakambangan where the three are being held.

Under Indonesian law, execution, which is by firing squad, cannot be carried out until all legal procedures have been exhausted. The families of the convicted, however, also have the right to request a presidential pardon.

"The families have now been notified but as far as I know, we haven't got any reply from them," Subagyo said.

The October 12, 2002 bombings at two nightclubs in Bali killed 202 people, mainly foreign tourists. Police blamed Jemaah Islamiah, an al Qaeda-linked network, for the atrocity.

On Tuesday, Bali police chief Made Mangku Pastika warned that speeding up the execution of the three could provoke a militant backlash and trigger more attacks.

Some political analysts have said their execution could make them martyrs in the eyes of Indonesia's militant fringe and a tool for recruitment.

The three have been on death row for around two years. They are part of some 30 militants convicted over the 2002 blasts.

Citing security concerns, authorities moved the three death row militants from their Bali jail just a day before it was stormed by hundreds of protesters last week.

Source: REUTERS

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