Bali bombers 'may be executed in August'

Amrozi (pictured) and Imam Samudra were convicted under anti-terror laws passed after the attacks. Picture / Reuters

DENPASAR, Indonesia - Indonesia may execute three militants sentenced to death for the 2002 Bali bombings in August, an official from the district attorney's office on the resort island has said.

The three men - Iman Samudra, Amrozi and Ali Gufron - have been on death row for more than two years after courts convicted them of playing leading roles in the October 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, including three New Zealanders.

"Last week, we sent letters to the convicts, their families and their lawyers to notify preparation for the execution," said Made Suratmaja, the head of Denpasar's district attorney office.

Suratmaja said the execution would be around the third week of next month or at the end of August.

Executions in Indonesia are normally carried out by a firing squad, but the exact location and time are kept secret.

"Based on the law, the date of execution cannot be published until it is done," Suratmaja said.

Normally, under Indonesian law, death row convicts are executed in the place where they have been tried.

But the attorney-general's office has sought permission to shift the execution from Bali to the prison island of Nusakambangan in central Java where the militants were shipped last year after anger grew in the wake of suicide blasts on Oct. 1 last year that killed 20 people.

"We have requested to the Justice and Human Rights Ministry that the execution be done in Nusakambangan for cost and safety considerations. And the ministry has approved the request," Suratmaja said.

He said the execution could be delayed if the trio appealed for a judicial review of their case a day before execution.

"If not, they will be executed," he said.

Amrozi, dubbed the "smiling bomber" for his chilling grin and expressions of delight at the Bali carnage, had said during his trial he welcomed the death penalty.

The bombings in Bali have been blamed on the Southeast Asian Islamic militant group, Jemaah Islamiah, which authorities say has links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

- REUTERS