Bali Bombers Closer To Death

I don’t very often comment on matters of law in Indonesia but this Bali bombers fiasco has become a run-around circus. Had they been convicted in any other country in South-East Asia, then they would be dead already.

The latest on the hews service from RTTN states that the three death-row Bali bombers have moved one step closer to an Indonesian firing squad after appeal hearings for the three ended abruptly Thursday when their lawyer abandoned them during proceedings in Bali’s Denpasar District Court.

Lawyer Fahmi Bachmid representing the trio walked out of the court after the judges turned down his request to have court hearings in Denpasar relocated from Bali to Java, close to where the three are imprisoned and insisted the hearings must proceed in Denpasar today.

Amrozi, his brother Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, and Imam Samudra are fighting a losing battle to escape the firing squad. The fate of the three is now in the hands of Indonesia’s Supreme Court, which will rule on their appeal against their death sentences. They were sentenced to death for their complicity in the 2002 bombings in Bali’s popular Kuta tourist district, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

The judges said they would now send their recommendations on the appeal to the Supreme Court, which can dismiss it, reduce or reaffirm the sentences, or return the matter to the district court for a retrial.

“The case is closed, we will send the dossier to the Supreme Court because the authority to decide is in the hands of the Supreme Court,” Judge Daniel Palltin said.