Delayed executions of Bali bombers fueled sympathy

Three terrorists who planned, carried out 2002 attacks which killed 202 brought before firing squad.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Bali bombers 248.88 (photo credit: AP)
Bali bombers 248.88
(photo credit: AP)
Indonesia helped fuel sympathy for the 2002 Bali bombers by repeatedly postponing their executions and allowing them to rally supporters from behind bars, experts said Monday, after hard-liners welcomed home their bodies with calls for revenge. Several embassies, including those of the US and Australia, urged citizens to keep a low profile, saying they could be targeted. Imam Samudra, 38, and brothers Amrozi Nurhasyim, 47, and Ali Ghufron, 48, were brought before a firing squad near their high-security prison on Nusakambangan island early Sunday, said Jasman Panjaitan, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office. They refused blindfolds and died instantly, he said. The October 12, 2002, attacks - allegedly funded by al-Qaida and carried out by members of the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah - killed 202 people and were the first of several suicide bombings in the world's most populous Muslim nation. Most of those killed were foreign tourists who packed two nightclubs on Bali on the busiest night of the week. The three militants confessed to helping plan and carry out the attacks but were without remorse, saying they were meant to punish the US and its Western allies for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nurhasyim, ever gloating, came to be known as the "smiling bomber." The executions ended years of uncertainty and legal battles about the men's fate. Political sensitivities and concerns about a security backlash had resulted in numerous delays that kept the militants in the media spotlight. They urged retaliation for their pending deaths on television and portrayed themselves as Islamic martyrs. Images of the men praying or meeting with relatives further fueled public sympathy. "This is the government's fault, not that of the media," said Fachry Ali, a political analyst at the University of Indonesia, a day after thousands of emotional supporters thronged ambulances carrying the bombers' caskets through the streets in their villages of Tenggulun and Serang. Some hard-liners chanted "God is great!" and called for revenge. Panjaitan, of the Attorney General's office, argued that a small minority would have voiced empathy for the men even if they had been executed the day after their death sentences were announced. "It's not related to the execution process, which took a long time to ensure their rights and fair justice," he said, responding to criticism that courts continued to accept petitions from the defendants even after all legal channels had been exhausted. Most of Indonesia's 235 million people are moderate Muslims who have little sympathy for the bombers, but they have strong support among an increasingly vocal radical fringe. Solikum, a 17-year-old student at a hard-line Islamic boarding school in Tenggulun, was among those calling for revenge Sunday, saying the three men were "holy warriors" who should not have been killed. Like many Indonesians, he goes by only one name. Dozens of radicals scuffled briefly with police in the east Java town, but there were no serious disturbances. The government took no chances, stepping up security at shopping malls, churches, and other sensitive locations, said Abubakar Nataprawira, spokesman of the national police. At least two bomb threats were reported Sunday, but both turned out to be hoaxes, he said.