Indonesia’s constitutional court yesterday rejected a petition against execution by firing squad from the three Islamists on death row over the Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
The petition was seen as the last bid by the bombers — Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron — to delay their execution for their role in the 2002 terror attacks on the holiday island.
“The reasons given are baseless and have to be rejected,” court chairman Mohammad Mahfud said, referring to the bombers’ argument that execution by firing squad amounted to a form of torture. “The pain generated by a firing squad is a natural effect, and it’s not torture.”
Most executions in Indonesia are carried out by firing squad at undisclosed locations in the dead of night. Prisoners are normally notified at least 72 hours before they are shot. The attorney general’s office has said it will make an announcement on Friday about the execution plans. Officials have said only that the sentences will be carried out before the end of the year, after repeated delays due to legal appeals and religious considerations.
A spokesman for the attorney general’s office, Jasman Simanjuntak, praised the court’s ruling.
“It’s good that there are no more polemics over the methods ahead of the execution,” he said.
Defense lawyer Wirawan Adnan said he had no idea when the executions might take place.
“They [officials] have an obligation to inform a defense lawyer about the date. So far we haven’t received anything,” he said.
Meanwhile, Indonesian police have detained two men, one of whom is thought to be linked to Noordin Mohammad Top, the Islamic militant who is one of the country’s most wanted men, police sources said yesterday.
Malaysian-born Top is accused of masterminding a series of deadly bombings including blasts in Bali in 2005 that killed more than 20 people.
Police raided a house in north Jakarta yesterday and found the two men, as well as ammunition and explosives, one of the police sources said. The second man was identified as the landlord of the property.
Indonesia’s Elshinta radio reported that police were still chasing another suspected militant from the same group.
Top is believed to be the leading strategist and a key financier for Jemaah Islamiah, the Southeast Asian militant group. Indonesian police say they have often come close to capturing him.
Also, anti-terrorism police seized bomb-making materials and a large cache of weapons and ammunition during a raid yesterday on a house in the Indonesian capital, police and a local television station reported.
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