The Plot To Assassinate SBY...

It seems that the weekend raids on the terrorist organization of Noordin M Top has failed to locate and arrest or kill the main man himself. However, the raids have uncovered what is purportedly an advanced level of planning towards an attempted assassination of the president. Although, I still think the aftermath of the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel bombings was poor timing to reveal that there were plots to assassinate him underway, it is interesting, and important, that greater detail of the plans are coming to light of the alleged plots.

The fact that Top is not dead means that the plots to assassinate SBY may still be well-advanced. It is unclear whether this was a solitary cell tasked with this particular assignment or whether Top has multiple cells operating independently of each other and given similar orders. The rationale being if one gets found out there will be others to step into the firing line.

It is surprising that the security detail on the president has been stepped up. Surprising because he is afterall the president and one would figure that the security detail would always be on a heightened level of alertness.

The assassination plot allegedly involves a rather large car bomb and 500kg of explosives. The aim to detonate the bomb close enough to the president that he would be killed. The two most likely targets were the president's private residence in Cikeas, Bogor, or the State Palace.

The more likely of these targets would have been the private residence as reports are suggesting that security prior to the public uncovering of the plot was a lot less than optimal. The idea of getting a car or van bomb closer enough to the president in the vicinity of the State Palace would really require some insiders to facilitate the movement of the car or van into a location where the deed could be done.

Apparently, the attack and assassination of SBY would be in retaliation for the executions of the Bali Bombers; Amrozi, Mukhlas, and Samudra, and because SBY runs a pro-western government.

The recent raids do not seem to have killed the possibility of future attacks. However, with a bit of luck the raids will have further disrupted the ability of Top and his band of terrorist followers to commit further attacks, and in essence buy some time for anti-terrorism authorities to capture the man.

The plan is brazen, and the fact that Top believes that he could have done it is indicative of a confidence among Top and his followers that anything is possible for them. Hopefully, this over-confidence will lead to more mistakes and the anti-terrorism authorities will dissolve the network once and for all.

Bali Bombers -- It's Done!

I am not going to write a long essay here on my opinions on the death penalty or the pros and cons of such.

I am not going to make any statements about martyrdom.

The three have been executed (picture from here).

I hope this brings closure and finality for the victims and their families.

Travel Warning

The imminent execution of the murderous trio of Amrozi, Mukhlas, and Samudra has prompted the Australia government to issue a travel warning (People's Daily Online and Inquirer.net) asking Australians to reconsider their travel plans to Indonesia. And, if Australians insist on traveling to Indonesia, then they should avoid all locations that are likely to be targets of attack.

The idea that there will be a backlash (Gulf News) is dependent on so many things, particularly whether the extremists that the travel warning refers to, have the capability of carrying out an attack. It is wise to never underestimate your enemy, but there has not been a terrorist attack in Indonesia for a number of years.

This suggests one of two things; the terrorists are being patient or their capabilities of organizing and carrying out an attack have been severely compromised by law enforcements efforts in rounding them up and prosecuting them.

It is highly likely that there might be demonstrations over the executions and there will undoubtedly be large turnouts at the funerals of the three, and perhaps there may even be skirmishes at these events.

However, the best advice I have to offer is to have some self-awareness regarding the places you are in and where possible avoid putting yourself in harms way. So, if you think a likely target is a pub or a club, then do not go there. If you think it is a shopping mall then do not go there.

Bali Bombers -- The Clock is Ticking?

Word on the street is that the 72 hour notification that is required to be given to a condemned person prior to their execution was given on Friday at 21.00.

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.

I should add that, seeing is believing!

I am sure that most people will not believe that this whole tragic and sad saga is over until these three are executed and buried. Even then there will probably be those that believe some conspiracy has taken place and they have been whisked off to some faraway locale.

A Jihadi Cemetery

The imminent execution of the murderous trio of Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas has seen a mad scramble to see who can organize a fitting tribute to their Jihadist struggle. A fitting tribute for my mind would be an unmarked grave in the middle of nowhere. However, it seems that Cecep Hermawan wants to create a special Jihadi Cemetery in Cianjur West Java so that the "holy warriors" can be buried and remembered for the heroes that they were.

Hermawan's idea is that the Jihadi Cemetery can become a place where all Jihadists who lay down their lives in the pursuit of the cause, in this case the implementation of Sharia Law and the introduction of an Islamic State, can be buried in one place. Hermawan is so confident that pilgrims will come to his Jihadi Cemetery that he is donating one hectare of land for the project.

Hermawan has already approached the three killers about their interest in such a plan. The three seem to feel that it is a good idea. However, the families of the condemned killers, particularly the families of Amrozi and Mukhlas, are a little bit hesitant as the distance from their homes to the cemetery is considerable.

It is almost comical in a sense the competition that is being generated with regards to signing up the families of the soon to be dead killers to a burial spot. Achmad Cholid, one of the Muslim Defense Team lawyers, has suggested that there are as many as five offers on the table. The word is that the families are waiting official notification of when the executions are going to take place before they decide which offer to take.

They might not have to wait too much longer to make that decision. Most news agencies are on stand by and many are of the opinion that the 72 hour notification has already been given and the clock is ticking. For me, I am not sure that the authorities could keep the lid on the notification. The families and the lawyers would be sure to make the notification public hence the idea that the authorities could not keep a lid on this thing.

Shrine or no shrine, Jihadi cemetery or no Jihadi cemetery, there is not long now for these men who will soon no longer be drawing breath on this earth.

The Bali Bombers -- Letters to the Masses

The government has set itself on a course of motion that is going to culminate with the execution of Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas (photo from Reuters).

These three self-proclaimed warriors of Islam and martyrs in waiting will probably exercise their right to seek clemency from the President in order to delay a little longer their fate.

There will be no clemency from the president, for to do so would be political suicide. I am of the belief that there are more Indonesians who want to live in peace and free from this scourge of the threat of rolling terror.

The government has be ratcheting up security in the lead up to the executions as a consequence of the perceived increased likelihood of some kind of protest or attack in response to the executions, revenge if you will.

However, the government then goes and shoots itself in the foot by allowing these three mass murderers to write open letters to the world and espouse their philosophy of hate and intolerance, madness!

This cannot be explained away as giving these cowards their last wishes. They did not afford any opportunities to their victims to say goodbyes to loved ones or write open letters to the world. If we are talking about justice, then these killers must be afforded every legal opportunity to argue their respective cases and then once those legal avenues are exhausted then they are to be punished according to their sentences.

These rights to exhaust legal avenues must not include incitements to violence.

All three proclaimed that the West and the infidels were doomed to defeat and hell.

Samudra had the most to say including these pieces of twisted wisdom:

"You, the little people, will be easy to 'smack down' by the mujahideen."

"You will be defeated in this world and will be taken to hell."

"Who doesn't know that the toothless giant, the US infidel and their allies, are now dying.

"You think, if you execute the three of us, you can walk freely, there's no way."

"Remember: there's not one free Muslim blood drop!"

The time is near for this to end. I hope that the execution of these three killers brings some peace and closure to the families who have lost loved ones to the cowardice of these men (I hesitate to call them men).

I wonder whether they will be as brave when the time comes and they face their executioners?

Increased Security -- Jakarta

The government is not taking any chances with the ever-approaching and now seemingly inevitable executions of the murderous trio known collectively as the Bali Bombers, with security being ramped up in the capital and other places where there are "vital" installations.

The country's Chief Detective, Susnoduaji, has said that "National police issued an order for all regional police across Indonesia to boost security in vital installations to anticipate possible sabotage or terror attacks." The installations getting the benefit of a ramped up security presence are those that contribute most to the economy, such as power plants and fuel depots.

It is probably better to be safe than sorry in light of the fact that the three Bali Bombers sitting on death row have consistently said that there are others read and able to avenge their executions. However, the reality seems to be that terrorists in Indonesia maintain very little of the infrastructure and resource that they once had. Nevertheless, it does not take a lot to do a lot of damage.

It seems the wait is almost over.

Early November

It seems that there are a lot of things happening in November. The US is about to elect its next president and the murderous trio of Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas are to be executed.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office made the announcement on Friday that a date in early November is the most likely time for the three to be executed.

Why Wait for Friday?

I promised to provide an update on the planned executions of the Bali Bombers (photo from Kompas) on Friday unless something interesting came up, and it did.

It seems that the legal team of the three are going to take this thing to the ICJ. I am not entirely convinced that they can as the ICJ is generally a State against State deal.

Achmad Michdan of the legal team has said they are going to send a letter to the "International Court". I am guessing that this is the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

My guess is based on a Kompas Newspaper report (in Indonesian). However, a letter would seem to be wasted on the ICJ. It would make more sense to send a letter to a UN organ that dealt with human rights, such as the Human Rights Council.

It seems that the legal teams complaint is that the Constitutional Court of Indonesia does not take into account that the prescribed method of execution in Islam is beheading. I need to find out some more information on this.

I will check it out later in the morning and add a postscript if, and when, I find out something.

Thanks to Calupict for pointing me in this direction.

Appeal Denied -- What's Next?

It seems that the three cowards, AKA Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas (photo courtesy of Reuters) have been thwarted once again, this time by the Constitutional Court. It seems that the Constitutional Court has adopted a position that says the whole point of the death penalty is to see the convicted person dead. In other words death sometimes hurts and in death penalty cases the method of execution may cause pain but this pain does not constitute torture and as such the method cannot be deemed to be cruel and unusual.

Therefore, the firing squad does not constitute a method of execution that is either cruel or unusual or, for that matter, inhuman. The Constitutional Court seems to concede that pain might be involved but that the pain is not enough to warrant any Court intervention in this matter. It is worth noting that even if the Court had found the firing squad to be cruel and unusual, these three would not have benefited as Constitutional Court decisions apply going forward and not retrospectively.

This means that there appears to be no further reasons for the delay of the executions. It is expected that the Attorney General, Hendarman Supandji, will announce the date and time of the executions on Friday. Executions are not normally announced prior to the execution taking place. I guess interest in the case is such that the government feels a pre-announcement is warranted.

Next update on Friday (unless there is something worth noting beforehand).

Amnesty International Appeal

Amnesty International has launched an appeal to see the lives of Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas spared from the firing squad.

The appeal is attached in full.

AI Index: ASA 21/020/2008 16 October 2008

INDONESIA: Amrozi bin H. Nurhasyim (m), Ali Ghufron alias Mukhlas (m), Imam Samudera (m)

Amrozi bin H. Nurhasyim, Ali Ghufron and Imam Samudera, who were convicted of involvement in the 12 October 2002 bombings on the island of Bali, which killed 202 people and injured a further 209, are facing imminent execution by firing squad within the next week.

In January 2008, police and court officials informed the three men that their renewed demands for a second judicial review had been rejected. The men appealed against this decision, but on 17 July the Indonesian Supreme Court rejected this appeal and announced that they had exhausted their right of appeal, stating only one judicial review is permitted.

The executions were due to take place in September, but were delayed for the holy month of Ramadan. Jasman Simanjuntak, spokesman for the Attorney-General's office, stated on 14 October that the date of execution will be announced on 24 October. However, as executions in Indonesia are usually carried out in the early hours of Friday morning, and the date of execution is never normally announced in advance, Amnesty International fears that the announcement will simply confirm that they have already been executed. Amnesty International is also concerned that the men will be executed despite their outstanding petition to the Constitutional Court, alleging that the method of execution by firing squad amounts to torture.

Amrozi bin H. Nurhasyim, Ali Ghufron and Imam Samudera were sentenced to death by the Denpasar District Court in 2003. The law they were convicted under was brought into force in 2003 and introduced the death penalty for 'terrorist' acts, and allowed for those involved in the 2002 bombings in Bali to be tried retroactively. Under international law (Article 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights- ICCPR) and the Indonesian Constitution, a person cannot be tried under legislation brought in after the incident took place.

A pardon from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is extremely unlikely. All three men have stated that they will not apply for Presidential pardon. The President has also previously indicated in a television interview that he will not give clemency and will allow the process to be seen through to the end.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Death sentences in Indonesia are carried out by firing squad. The person under sentence of death has the choice of standing or sitting and of using a blindfold or cover for their head. Firing squads consist of 12 people, six of whom are supplied with live ammunition and six whose guns are loaded with blanks. The squad fires from a distance of between five and 10 metres.

To Amnesty International's knowledge, at least 107 people are believed to be under sentence of death in Indonesia. Eleven of these were convicted and sentenced to death in 2007. Indonesia has executed seven people since 26 June 2008.

In 2006, Indonesia ratified the ICCPR, which states that "every human being has the inherent right to life." However, the Indonesian authorities did not authorize ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aimed at the abolition of the death penalty.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Bahasa Indonesian, English or your own language:

- calling for the death sentences of Amrozi bin H. Nurhasyim, Ali Ghufron alias Mukhlas and Imam Samudera to be commuted;
- expressing concern that the Law on Combating Criminal Acts of Terrorism, under which these men were sentenced to death, was applied retrospectively to include all those involved in the Bali bombings, violating international law and the Indonesian Constitution;
- calling on the Indonesian authorities to commute all death sentences in Indonesia;
- recognizing that Indonesia has a right and responsibility to address serious crime, and expressing sympathy for its victims, but pointing out that there is no clear evidence that the death penalty is an effective deterrent;
- calling on the authorities to sign and ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR and establish a moratorium on executions, as a first step towards the abolition of the death penalty as advocated in the UN General Assembly Resolution of 18 December 2007.

APPEALS TO:

Please remember Indonesia is 6 hours ahead of GMT, and fax machines may be switched off outside of office hours.

President
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President RI, Istana Merdeka, Jakarta Pusat 10110, Indonesia
Fax: + 62 21 345 2685
+ 62 21 526 8726

Salutation: Dear President

Attorney General
Mr. Hendarman Supandji, Jaksa Agung, J. Sultan Hasanuddin No. 1, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta, Indonesia
Fax: + 62 21 725 0213

Salutation: Dear Attorney General

COPIES TO:

Governor of Bali
Governor Dewa Made Beratha
Jl. Basuki Rahmat Renon Denpasar 80361, Bali, Indonesia
Fax: +62 361 236 037

Salutation: Dear Governor

and to diplomatic representatives of Indonesia accredited to your country.

I am against the death penalty.

Executions in Indonesia

Executions in Indonesia are governed by the provisions of Law No. 2/PNPS/1964 on the Procedures for Carrying Out an Execution. Among other things this Law regulates the number of shooters to be in the firing squad and the distance the shooters can be from the condemned person. This is a team of 14 and more than five meters but less than ten meters, respectively.

The shots are to be fired at the heart and some members of the team will fire live rounds while others will fire blanks. This might sound like it lessens the burden of the shooters as they supposedly do not know whether they fired a live round or a blank.

However, I am reliably informed by a couple of former SAS soldiers that any soldier worth his salt can tell the difference between a live round and a blank. My guess is that the police officers of the Mobile Brigade that are tasked with this duty will also be able to tell the difference between a live round and a blank. The law does not stipulate how many rounds are to be live and how many are to be blank.

The Law also states that if the initial volley does not extinguish the condemned person's life then a single pistol shot to the temple is to finish the job. I would have figured if the firing squad were any good at their jobs then 5 or 6 shots to the heart would probably be a pretty instantaneous death as far as I can tell.

There will be an executioner. It seems the executioner's job is to lower the sword that signifies the shots are to be fired. I am guessing there will probably be witnesses on the scene, maybe a spiritual advisor, and a doctor to declare a time of death.

I cannot imagine what it must be like to be counting the days, hours, and minutes to your execution.

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!

No Remorse rather Defiance

The happy-go-lucky murderous trio of Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas (photo is from AP and is of Mukhlas and Amrozi) continue to show no remorse for their actions that resulted in the deaths of 202 innocent children, women, and men.

To the contrary, the trio is proud of the horror that they perpetrated as this is what the infidels deserve. Samudra went as far as to say he would never apologise to the infidel.

In a move that they think will scare the Indonesian government into postponing the executions indefinitely, the three have guaranteed that retribution will be swift and furious if they are ever executed.

My personal opinion is that they have gotten a little carried away with their own celebrity and are overplaying their hand a little bit. The fact that these three convicted mass murderers have not been executed should be a source of embarrassment for the government of Indonesia.

Amrozi is not only not remorseful but confident that if he ever had the chance to do the same again he would without hesitation. The chances of jail ever rehabilitating him and preparing him for re-integration to the community is somewhere between zero and a snowflake's chance in hell.

The other claim these wanna be warriors of Allah are making is that any one involved in the execution will be forever condemned by God. Interesting that God does not condemn three men who ripped away the lives of so many in the name of their religion.

If this thought of eternal condemnation spooks the firing squad, I am sure there will be a line of people willing to take the shots themselves, and with no real care whether the three die quickly or slowly and in considerable pain. For many the pain of their losses on 12 October 2002 is still raw.

These men still believe that there was honour in their actions. I am yet to hear any justification that makes sense that these are the actions of honourable men. More to the point, all the talk now seems to be about avoiding the execution that they have been sentenced to. Where is the bravery now? I would have thought that the sooner the execution the better as you will be with God and a martyr to the cause.

These men are cowards of the highest order they are prepared to send innocents to their deaths but they are not prepared to die in the name of the cause themselves. It is strange that they think themselves to be so special, the chosen ones.

Even more interesting is that the three do not think that they will be executed this year! I wonder do they know something that the rest of us do not know. After all it was the Minister of Law and Human Rights that said that these three would be executed immediately after Eid ul-Fitr. It is time for the Indonesian Government to ante up and do what is required by law to be done.

Obesity and Lethal Injections

There is a simple question being posed by a death row inmate in a federal lawsuit that has been lodged in Ohio and that question is, "can you be too fat to be put to death by lethal injection?" By now most of my regular readers know that I am anti-death penalty and have stated my reasons for such opposition elsewhere on my blog.

The inmate, Richard Cooey, argues that because of his obesity the executioners would not be able to find suitable veins for the needle and that the drugs would have diminished effect because of his weight. The diminished effect of the drugs would seem to be the primary argument because this would conceivably render the execution cruel and unusual. A person has a lot of veins, so if one was not readily available in the inmates arms, then the executioners move to his hands, legs, and feet in search of a suitable vein. My guess is that they would find one even in a fat person. Cooey is 5'7" tall and weighs a hefty 267 pounds.

The debate about whether Cooey should die for his crime, the rape and murder of two University of Akron students back in 1986, is not the point of this post. What is the point is whether the execution of fat people by lethal injection constitutes a breach of fat people's rights to be executed in a humane way. How stupid does that sound? Is there any humane way to be executed? And should we distinguish between humane ways of execution for fat people and people whose weight falls within a recognized standard.

Although, the obesity arguments are not the only arguments being run by the Public Defender assisting Cooey. It is also alleged that the migraine medication Cooey is taking will effect the lethal injection process as Topamax, the drug Cooey is taking, is likely to block Thiopental which is the drug that knocks you out before the lethal drugs are injected.

This, according to an expert, is likely to increase the risk that Cooey is not properly anesthetized and therefore he would be getting the full enjoyment of the lethal drugs that will kill him as they are pumped into his body. I figure that perhaps the surviving members of his victims' families might not be too concerned with the idea that Cooey suffers a little excruciating pain. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth might not be such a bad thing in the thoughts of those who have suffered since 1986 with the pain of losing loved ones.

The Federal Appeals Courts have generally not found in favor of these arguments. Therefore, the likely outcome is that the appeal will fail.

Cooey is scheduled to meet his maker on 14 October 2008.