Bali bomber got Death penalty!

[Stratos]

Bali bomber sentenced to death The man who became known as the "smiling bomber" for his part in the Bali bombings last year, has been sentenced to death by firing squad. Amrozi bin Nurhasyim was found guilty of conspiring, planning and carrying out an act of terrorism, which killed 202 people. He smiled when the guilty verdict was read out and turned around to the courtroom and gave the thumbs-up sign when the judge handed down the death sentence. I hope that this verdict provides some sense of comfort to those who lost their loved ones in this tragedy Australian PM John Howard Amrozi is the first man to stand trial for the bombs, which ripped through a busy nightclub area in the island's Kuta district on 12 October, killing mostly foreign tourists. The BBC's Rachel Harvey, who was in court, said the judge announced his verdict in a strong, clear voice. "Amrozi has been legally and convincingly proven guilty of terrorism," said Chief Judge I Made Karna. But his final words were almost drowned out by cheers and applause from the relatives and survivors of the bombings. 'Not against Australians' It could be some time before the death sentence is carried out. Amrozi's lawyer, Wirawan Adnan, said he would launch an appeal on Friday morning. BALI VICTIMS Citizens from 21 countries died: Australians: 88 Indonesians: 38 Britons: 23 Swedes: 9 Americans: 7 Germans: 6 Dutch: 4 He said Amrozi was sorry for the deaths of those people who were not targets. "He doesn't have anything personal against the Australians, for instance. The targets were the Americans and the Jews." Australian Prime Minister John Howard welcomed the verdict and said his government would not appeal for Indonesia to commute the death sentence. "Most of all I hope that this verdict provides some sense of comfort to those who lost their loved ones in this tragedy and that they feel in some way that justice has been done," he said. DEATH PENALTY FOR BOMBER Carried out by 14-man firing squad Only one round is live Sentence can be appealed Appeals can take five years The UK's Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott welcomed the conviction and said the government would not object to the death sentence in this case. "It is not for us to tell other countries what to do," he said. Amrozi, one of three brothers arrested in connection with the Bali operation, was charged after he admitted buying the explosives and the minivan used in the blasts. Police said the bombings were planned by Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a militant Muslim group which wants to overthrow the Indonesian Government and set up a Muslim alternative across south-east Asia. Amrozi, a 41-year-old mechanic, has denied the attack was the work of JI, which has been linked to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Five judges heard from more than 40 witnesses during Amrozi's trial, including survivors of the attack. The Australian press nicknamed him the "smiling bomber" after he appeared laughing before television crews following his arrest last year. 'Happy to die' The other key suspects in the case are on trial separately. During his trial, which began in May, Amrozi said the Bali bombings had "positive aspects" because they encouraged people to re-embrace religion and weakened the corrupting influence of foreign tourists. Amrozi has said he is not worried about the death penalty. "I'll be happy to die a martyr," he said recently. "After me there will be a million more Amrozis." Indonesian police suspect JI was also behind Tuesday's car bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which killed at least 10 people and injured dozens of others. They said documents found in the possession of JI members arrested last month indicated an attack in the area around the hotel was imminent and police patrols were stepped up. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...ic/3130929.stm Published: 2003/08/07 16:56:37 GMT © BBC MMIII

Also, here's a clip from the trial ( RealPlayer)
http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/real/r...verdict,00.ram

Death is too merciful for this guy.

[ 08-07-2003, 06:06 PM: Message edited by: Stratos ]

[johnny]

originally posted by Stratos Death is too merciful for this guy.

Not if they feed him to a bunch of hungry pigs.

[Memnoch]

Justice has been served and a lot of people will sleep easier at night, though probably not less painfully. Here's an interesting article though...


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Our reaction to this verdict, and others to come, may say something about us as Australians, writes Tony Stephens.

The prospect of death concentrates the mind wonderfully but the death penalty handed down in Denpasar cannot put an end to the pain in the hearts of so many Indonesians and Australians.

Many Australians will welcome the sentence faced by Amrozi, a young man with a name once strange to Australian ears but now unhappily familiar. Some relatives of those who died in Bali say they would willingly join a firing squad.

At least as many will see something sadly illogical in the state demonstrating its high regard for the sanctity of human life by taking another life. They will worry, too, that they might have witnessed the birth of a martyr.

A third group believes it matters little whether Amrozi is executed or dies in jail. For these people, neither time nor a court can completely heal all wounds. They are too deep. All these people can hope for is that yesterday's sentence helps them manage their recovery.

The Prime Minister told a national mourning service after the bombings in Bali that the nation had "been moved in unison and in grief in response to these terrible deeds".

Australians handled their grief in their different, but generally quiet, ways. The muted response had more in keeping with a natural disaster than with a diabolical crime. It differed markedly from that in the United States after September 11.

Reasons offered for this included the fact that the bombs did not leave a vast hole in Australian soil, Australians felt deep affection for the Balinese people, and that savage indignation and vengeful hearts were not part of the Australian character.

Perhaps some pent-up anger, which lacked focus until the trial, will now express itself. The reaction in the days - and the sentences - to come may well say something about us as Australians.

Brian Deegan, for one, will hope that the reaction does not show us to be a more vengeful people than we thought. He is a magistrate in Adelaide whose son, Joshua, died in Bali's Sari Club on October 12. He said: "That Amrozi and his fellow evildoers should face an Indonesian firing squad is unconscionable because that would make the punishment as barbaric as the crime.

"What the Bali bombers did to my child and to the hundreds of others defies description.

"But the terrorist attacks do not give anyone the right to repeat such a vile act.

"If the purpose of killing a human being is to deter future killers, it's bound to fail as it has failed in the past.

"If the original crime was politically motivated, that only strengthens my argument. If it were not so, one could never explain the deaths of countless young soldiers who for centuries have killed and died for political causes."

The contrary view was put last night by Peter Iliffe, whose son Joshua was killed in Bali.

He said: "I just want to see him die. I would help pull the trigger, whether or not it makes him a martyr. I won't give up on this but I'll believe it when I see it."

John Howard said that his Government did not intend to make representations to the Indonesian Government that the death penalty not be enforced.

Some lawyers believe that Amrozi could appeal on constitutional grounds that he was charged under retrospective anti-terrorist legislation.

Differences between the Indonesian and Australian legal systems have coloured reactions. Amrozi laughed and shouted; proceedings were adjourned for half an hour yesterday for prayers.

But the different reactions among Australians to the sentence probably come down to different attitudes to its purpose: whether it is vengeance or retribution, or whether it is a more abstract sense of justice, as usually applies in the Australian system.

David Mutton, a senior lecturer in forensic psychology at the University of Western Sydney, said the circumstances of the bombings would not have affected people's opinions of capital punishment. It would not matter that Amrozi was a foreign Muslim.

"Plenty of people wanted to get Martin Bryant after Port Arthur," he said. "Police and nurses had to protect him."

The co-director of the Bereavement Care Centre, Mal McKissock, who counselled survivors and grieving relatives, said: "I hope people don't feel that Amrozi is among the disposable people. That attitude caused the bombs in the first place."

Sandy MacGregor, a counsellor whose three daughters and another teenager were murdered in 1987, said: "Execution is a denial of hope in humankind. A jail sentence would have been harder for Amrozi. We have a huge problem with extremism and this won't help solve it."

It is still too early to know to what extent the Bali bombs have changed Australia, except that death has linked Australia inextricably to Asia.

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[Chewbacca]

It is too bad we can't give the idea of terrorism a death sentence.

[The Hierophant]

Originally posted by Chewbacca: It is too bad we can't give the idea of terrorism a death sentence.

Indeed, but you can revolve to the mindset that there is no such thing as terrorism. Just killing and counter-killing. It need not be the sensationalist phenomenon that it is today. Watch your back, I'll watch mine, others will watch theirs. Come what will...

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Stratos: "I'll be happy to die a martyr," he said recently. "After me there will be a million more Amrozis."

He is happy to die a martyr because Martyrdom is the ONLY assurance of salvation in Islam. By killing him they give him exactly what he wants. A far more effective punishment - and deterrant to the million more martyrdom seeking Amrozis - would be to keep him incarcerated for life. Life imprisonment.

[The Hierophant]

Originally posted by Yorick: He is happy to die a martyr because Martyrdom is the ONLY assurance of salvation in Islam. By killing him they give him exactly what he wants. A far more effective punishment - and deterrant to the million more martyrdom seeking Amrozis - would be to keep him incarcerated for life. Life imprisonment.

Yeah, but logic doesn't factor into vengeance.

[Kakero]

Do you all know? when the sentense was read out to him. He was still smiling.

[HammerHead]

Originally posted by Kakero: Do you all know? when the sentense was read out to him. He was still smiling.

Because he got what he came for: martyrdom, paradise, virgins bla bla bla. I'm sure he wouldn't have smiled if he instead had been sentenced to life.

C

[antryg]

Would it be cruel and unusual punishment if he were given a life sentence and forced to work on a pig farm, eating only pork products with his left hand and drinking beer?