BALI BOMBERS TO BE EXECUTED EARLY NOVEMBER

By Andi Abdussalam

       Jakarta, Oct 24 (ANTARA) - The Attorney General's Office (AGO) statement on Friday that the Bali bombers on death row Amrozi, Ali Gufron or Mukhlas and Imam Samudra would be executed early next month, did not surprise many.

         The AGO might be serious in its statement and execution of Amrozi et al might really be carried out soon.  Yet, it is still fresh in the public's mind when last July Attorney General Hendarman Supandji stated that the Bali bombers were to be executed before the fasting month (September). But it was not carried out.

         Hence, today's statement by the AGO official that Amrozi and friends would face a firing squad soon remains to be seen. After all, AGO spokesman Jasam Pandjaitan did not refer to any specific date or day of the execution.

         "Convicted Bali I bombers Amrozi et al will be executed  early next November," Jasam Pandjaitan said.

         The death-row convicts Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra  had pursued the last available legal avenue unsuccessfully and  the result of the process has become legally binding.

         "The three did not apply for pardon,  so the execution can be carried out soon," he said, adding that "Their execution will be carried out early in November."
     Panjaitan read to the press on Friday the decision to execute the Bali bombers but he did not mention any day or date for the execution. The press was also not given a chance to raise questions about the matter.

         Amrozi and his two associates were sentenced to death for their role in the Bali I bombings in 2002 which killed, among others,  88 Australians.

        The three had filed a judicial review with the Constitutional Court (MK) on the law they believed that execution by firing squad as mandated  by Law No. 2/PNPS/1964 was against their constitutional rights of not to be tortured.

        However, the Constitutional Court (MK) recently turned down their request for a judicial review on Law No.2/PNPS/1964 on the Procedures of an Execution.

         Therefore, House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Agung Laksono had asked the Attorney General not to further delay  the execution.

         "I regret the postponement (of the execution) without clear ground. Just execute (them)," Laksono said at the Parliament Building here on Friday.

         Laksono said if there was no more legal attempts of the condemned men, they should be executed. It was not necessary to postpone the execution further, he said.

         Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said the execution of Amrozi et al was a matter of choosing the right time.

         "Executions are always carried out following extensive  considerations and at the right time. It does not mean that the government hesitates to carry out the death penalty," the vice president said.

          The vice president said  Sumiarsih, a woman who was convicted of killing a National Defense Forces (TNI) soldier, was executed  20 years after she was condemned to death.

          That's why the government hopes the world community will give a proportional reaction to the country's decision to execute the Bali bombing death-row convicts Amrozi and friends.

        "As we have seen,  the country's legal process in  this case has been quite transparent and covered a long time. We hope the world community will give  proportional reactions to the decision to execute  Amrozi et al," Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said here on Friday.

        Faizasyah said the government had never interfered in the legal proceedings of Amrozi and his two associates, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra.

        "Everything was left to the judicial authorities alone. The government never interfered in the case. It never asked the judicial bodies to expedite or slow down the legal process," he said.

        In general, the world community had been divided into two groups in regard to the Bali bombers case, he noted. One group wanted their execution expedited and the other was opposed to the death penalty.

        On the Australian government's reactions to Amrozi et al's execution, he said Canberra respected the law in Indonesia.

         The execution of the three Bali bombers is being eagerly awaited by the Australian public, especially by those who survived the carnage or lost their loved ones in the terrorist attack in which 99 Australians lost their lives.

         Their waiting  for the execution of the death row convicts for over six years was covered by many Australian print and electronic media on Friday.  
    Erik de Hart who survived the 2002 carnage told   Channel Seven TV station on Friday morning he agreed that the trio should face a firing squad.        
    The same feeling was expressed by Chris Wallace who lost a sister, Jodi, in the terrorist attack which took the lives of a total of 202 people.        
    Wallace was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying he would like to witness the execution of the men who were responsible for his sister's  death.      
    "I felt a little bit frustrated (with the delays in their execution), because the delay  lasted many months. Several times it was reported they were about to be executed, and each time it was delayed.  I asked the Federal Police by phone whether I could go and personally witness their execution," he said.      
    In Semarang police said on Thursday they had prepared three firing squads for Amrozi et al who are being held in a maximum security prison on Nusakambangan island, off Central Java's southern coast.

         "A squad for each convict," Central Java Police Chief Inspector General FX Sunarno said.

         Under Law No 2/PnPs/1964, one convict will have a 12-member firing squad.

         Therefore, Sunarno said, there would be 36 police officers for the execution of the three convicts, in addition to one commander for each squad. (t.A014/A/HNG/a014) 24-10-2008 23:44:03