- Title: iINDONESIA/ FILE: Three Bali bombers executed in Indonesia - TV.
- Date: 9th November 2008
- Summary: (ASIA) TENGGULUN VILLAGE, LAMONGAN, EAST JAVA PROVINCE, INDONESIA (NOVEMBER 8, 2008) (REUTERS) "Al-ISLAM" BOARDING SCHOOL, WHERE ONE OF THE BALI BOMBERS, AMROZI USED TO TEACH PLACARD READING "THREE HEROES ARE KILLED, MORE THAN 3000 ARE BORN" BASHIR STANDING WITH SUPPORTERS NEAR BIG PHOTOGRAPHS OF THREE BOMBERS IMAM SAMUDRA, AMROZI, MUKHLAS SUPPORTERS LISTENING TO BASHIR'S SPEECH (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) ABU BAKAR BASHIR, MUSLIM CLERIC, SAYING: "We are sad but we are also happy because once the are executed, they will die as heroes." BASHIR GETTING INTO CAR
- Embargoed: 24th November 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA32MXVZDGF2GPX4PQW0H1SVOFM
- Story Text: Local television reports Indonesia has executed three Muslim militants sentenced to death for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people.
Indonesia has executed three Muslim militants sentenced to death for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, the television network TvOne said on Sunday (November 9) citing an unidentified source.
The TV station said Imam Samudra, Mukhlas and Amrozi were executed on Nusakambangan island in central Java after midnight.
"At 00:000 the three men have been executed by three firing squads from Central Java Police Headquarters," its reporter said.
The executions could not immediately be confirmed by officials.
Dozens of supporters arrived at Imam Samudra's house in Serang, Banten province, shouting 'God the greatest' Officials have previously said that after the executions the bodies would be taken by helicopter to the home towns of the three men -- brothers Mukhlas and Amrozi to Lamongan, in east Java, and Imam Samudra to Serang, west Java.
In a statement issued by their lawyers before the executions, the men said their blood would "become the light for the faithful ones and burning hellfire for the infidels and hypocrites".
On Saturday (November 8), Indonesian militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who experts say was the spiritual leader of Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah arrived at an Islamic boarding school in East Java province to meet the family of brothers Mukhlas and Amrozi.
Hundreds of supporters greeted Bashir as he arrived at the Al Islam madrasa, barely 200 metres from the bombers' home.
"We are sad but we are also happy because once the are executed, they will die as heroes," Bashir said before a closed door meeting with the family.
The three convicted Bali bombers on death row were expected to be executed by firing squad. Indonesia does not announce the specific date or time of executions, but the attorney general's office has said the three militants would be executed in early November.
Reuters video shot in October 2008, showed the Bali bombers praying with others under the watchful eyes of prison guards.
"People like me are ready to die and if it is Allah's will, ready to be executed too. I don't care how we die, whether by injection or beheading, it is all the devil's methods," Mukhlas said after what could be his last Eid prayers.
The two explosions on Bali's Kuta strip on October 12, 2002 -- one at Paddy's Bar and the other at the Sari Club -- killed 202 people including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesian citizens, and dealt a severe blow to the island's tourist industry.
In an interview with Reuters late last year, the militants said their only regret was that some Muslims were killed in the blasts. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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