Bali bombers to launch last bid against death penalty
22 Nov 2007 10:12:42 GMT Source: Reuters
By Heri Retnowati BATU PRISON, NUSAKAMBANGAN, Indonesia, Nov 22 (Reuters) - One of three Indonesians sentenced to die for the 2002 Bali blasts says the trio plan to ask the country's top court to review their case in a last bid to stop their execution. Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas were sentenced to death for the resort island bombings in which more than 200 people died, most of them foreigners. They face execution by a firing squad after the country's Supreme Court rejected their final appeal, unless President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pardons them. The three bombers have repeatedly said they will not appeal to the president for clemency, saying they want to die as martyrs. "Although we are ready to die, we want our case review to be heard and we want a halt on all execution plans, because it (the decision to reject the last case review) is against Islamic law and the criminal code," Samudra told Reuters at a high security prison during a meeting with family members of one of the bombers. The three men are being held in the Batu Prison off the southern coast of Java. Indonesia does not, normally, announce the date or location of executions. Lawyers for the three Muslim militants had earlier sought a review of their case, arguing that anti-terrorism laws, which were written in the wake of the 2002 attacks, cannot be applied retrospectively. The Supreme Court turned down that appeal in September. Another case review is not possible under existing laws, said senior Supreme Court official Rikar Zarof. "You can't ask for another case review, that is not possible. The case has already been reviewed and it (the appeal) was rejected. And that's it," Zarof told Reuters by phone. But lawyer Achmad Michdan said the defence team will pressure the Supreme Court to overturn its decision. Mukhlas's wife, Paridah binti Abbas, and her children flew from neighbouring Malaysia for what is likely to be their last visit before the execution, accompanied by a defense lawyer for the three bombers. In the two-hour reunion Mukhlas, also known as Ali Gufron, read out a list of messages for his children, including prohibiting them from working for a democratic and secular government and urging them to continue his jihad to defend the right path of Islam. The bombings in Bali and other attacks that have hit Indonesia in recent years have been blamed on the Southeast Asian Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah. (Writing by Adhityani Arga; editing by Sugita Katyal and Sanjeev Miglani)
