13 October 2008

Bali Bombers -- Is It Time?

The information or misinformation coming out of the Office of the Public Prosecutor and the Attorney General's Office has lead to considerable confusion as to when the the murderous trio of Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas (photo from here) are going to face the firing squad and finally get that opportunity to meet their maker and find out if there really are 72 virgins waiting for them.

The latest information out of the Attorney General's Office is that the execution is likely to happen within two weeks. There has been some suggestion that there is to be a "big" announcement on Friday of next week.

The bombings for which the three have been tried and convicted for carrying out happened a touch over six years ago. I remember them well as it is also the day of my wedding reception. My wife and I were married on 11 October 2002 and we had our reception the following day. We finally arrived back at our hotel after midnight and turned on the news. It made for an interesting day of mixed emotions.

My parents had been in Bali just two days before the bombings and if I had not been getting married probably would have still been there. They probably would not have been in Paddy's or the Sari Club. But, I did have friends that were.

Jasman Pandjaitan, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, has said that there are no longer any technicalities that might see further delays in the execution. This includes any decisions from the Constitutional Court. Even if the Constitutional Court was to decide that the firing squad was cruel and inhumane, then this decision would not apply to the Bali Bombers. The Constitutional Court rulings have traditional applied from the date of the decision going forward and have not to date been applied retrospectively.

Furthermore, it would be surprising if the location, date, and time of the execution was announced prior to the execution. Any announcement of the location would likely see large crowds gather of those for and against the executions. There will undoubtedly be an announcement after the executions take place and probably even the obligatory photos and video of the coffins being loaded into hearses.

It will be interesting to see if the executions result in any violence. All three have said that their executions will see swift retribution handed out to those who participate and have facilitated the executions.

It would seem that the countdown to execution has started.

May God have mercy on your murderous souls!

9 comments:

Elyani said...

Justice can never be served here, I remember reading in news online the Attorney General even jokingly told the reporters to ask Mama Lauren (the psychic) about the execution date. Let's wait and see how long it takes to actually execute them!!

ps : belated Happy Anniversary, Rob...may your union continue to be blessed.

Anonymous said...

I'm just glad they will FINALLY get executed. I almost thought I would never see the day! LOL.

Happy Wedding Anniversary to you! Wow, this is the second time I've said this to a friend, it seems that October was a good month to get married!

Rob Baiton said...

Elyani...

I guess it depends on what you call justice.

I would imagine that Mama Lauren might have as good a chnace as anyone else of pulling the date out of the hat on this one.

Thanks on the wedding anniversary stuff.

Therry...

You're young and you will live to see the day.

Thanks on the wedding annivesary stuff.

boneman said...

I do not believe in giving guilty muderers the peace of death.

I, instead, would have them put in a special cell where there is a speaker inside their cell, and anyone who has suffered from their actions, lost loved ones, friends, or hates violence such as they have shown, may step up to a microphone and lecture, yell at, cry at, or just plain scream at tem.
And maybe a lifetime of seeing that pain they have caused may one day sink in and in those moments...when that wall is breeched, That's when justice is served.

When the blackened heart sees the pain they have caused, when the soul opens to the truth....

But, not the 'escape by death'.

boneman said...

(though it may sound cruel, yes?)

Anonymous said...

I don't get it: Schappelle Corby doesn't deserve execution, but the Bali Bombers do?

Am I the ONLY person here who thinks that executing these guys is wrong? I don't care what they've done, capital punishment is wrong. It won't change anything.

Rob Baiton said...

Boneman...

I am pretty sure you are not the only one that would rather see a different form of punishment handed out. One that would allow for some reflection and remorse and then perhaps justice can truly be served.

Your way, cruel, perhaps.

Brett...

I am also against the death penalty. I have argued in other posts that I think they should be incarcerated for the term of their natural lives.

Killing them will not bring justice. It might bring some closure for some of the families of the victims, but it does not bring back a loved one.

That said, a separate issue is that these men have been sentenced in accordance to Indonesian law and Indonesia has claimed that it is ready and willing to carry out that sentence. The question is, if they are so willing then when will the sentence be carried out?

On the Corby front, I do not think she should have be given a 20 year sentence in the first place. Partiucularly when traffickers of 100s of kilos of the wacky weed who use trucks to transport the weed from Aceh to Java get sentences of 4 or 5 years.

Once again, that's just me.

Anonymous said...

I abhor the death sentence.

But one problem with holding such people in jail is the retrospective changing of the law.

Given the speed of Islamification of Indonesia in the last few years, there is a good chance they will be released as War Heros within 15 years.

Last years terrorist is this years celebrity.

Nelson Mandela was in jail for terrorism......

To some people, the Bali Bombers are as important as Nelson was.

PB

Rob Baiton said...

PB...

It is an interesting point and I think this is why some people are keen to see the executions take place asap.

I think there is an element of fear that the longer this drags on the greater the likelihood that something like what you suggest may in fact transpire.

I still have high hopes that the moderates of all denominations will ultimately prevail.

That's just me, the eternal optimist.