Sat, Aug 09, 2003 page5

• Indonesians cheer Bali verdict

  COURT DECISION The `smiling bomber' Amrozi has not yet decided whether to appeal his death sentence, but his lawyers say their client was denied a fair trial

  • REUTERS
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  Lawyers for convicted Bali bomber Amrozi said yesterday he had yet to authorize them to appeal against his death sentence, which has been hailed by many Indonesians from street sellers to a presidential candidate.

  The defense team said they hoped to lodge an appeal for the 40-year-old Muslim militant, who has said he wants to die as a martyr, but would not argue that he was innocent. Any appeal, which must be lodged within seven days of Thursday's judgment, would be on grounds their client was denied due process.

  Dubbed the smiling bomber for his chilling grin, Amrozi admitted buying the van that was later packed with explosives and detonated outside two nightclubs on the resort island in October last year. The attack killed 202 people, mainly foreign tourists.

  "We have not appealed yet. We're still facing administrative issues since we have not received a letter of authorization from our client," lawyer Wirawan Adnan said.

  Indonesians lauded the death sentence, and one of the country's most prominent Muslim leaders said convicted "terrorists" should have their punishment meted out immediately.

  On the streets of Jakarta and Bali yesterday, some said the firing squad was too good for Amrozi, one of 38 Muslim militants arrested over the nightclub attacks.

  Amien Rais, a top presidential contender for next year's elections and a key Muslim leader, said those convicted of terror crimes should not be allowed to appeal and that separate courts should handle such crimes to speed up the process.

  "I say with all seriousness that every terrorist who is proven to have carried out crimes against humanity immediately be given the punishment they deserve," he said late on Thursday.

  Achmad Michdan, another of Amrozi's defense lawyers, said he believed the prosecution case had been weak and the overall conduct of the trial biased.

  "During the trial, the prosecutors only presented the witnesses showing the losses of the victims ... a sentence has to be determined not only by the losses and damages but a principle that [criminal] conduct can be proven realistically," he said.

  Britain and Australia, whose nationals accounted for more than half the Bali victims, have said they will not contest the sentence, although both have abolished capital punishment.

  But a group of relatives representing British victims has said it will lobby Jakarta to reduce Amrozi's sentence to life, fearing his execution would spark more militant attacks.

  Many Indonesians seemed less concerned.

  Choirul, a cigarette seller on a Jakarta street, reflected the horror at the attacks expressed by many moderate faithful in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

  "Many victims of Bali died slowly, Amrozi should die slowly as well, rather than being shot. He should be cut to pieces," he said.

  After the sentence was announced on Thursday, Amrozi swivelled his chair to the courtroom to face relatives of those killed, smiled broadly and made a thumbs-up sign with both hands.

  That picture was plastered across newspapers yesterday.

  Sitting drinking tea on a rattan mat on Bali's famous Kuta beach, Made Putra Yasa said he felt relieved.

  "I feel happy because he must die. If he lives he will make more bombs," said the 22-year-old waiter.

  The Jakarta Post described the ruling as "a new milestone in the country's history of jurisprudence." But the leading newspaper Tempo sounded a warning that repressive action might not succeed in the war on terror.

  "Amrozi's two thumbs up shows we will never run out of militant people who are willing to become martyrs," it said.
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