[JURIST] Indonesian authorities on Monday stayed the executions of Amrozi Nurhasyim, Ali Gufron and Imam Samudra, three of the men convicted for the bombings that killed over 200 people at a Bali nightclub in 2002 [BBC report], allowing time for the men to file a final appeal. The executions [JURIST report] had been scheduled for Tuesday, but defense lawyers said in July they planned a final appeal, even threatening to sue [JURIST report] the Indonesian attorney general's office if their clients' executions were carried out before they filed for judicial review. The three men have confessed to the crime, but lawyers representing the bombers plan to argue before the Indonesian Supreme Court that the convictions are illegal because the court applied an anti-terror law [BBC backgrounder] retroactively, relying on a 2004 Indonesian Constitutional Court ruling [JURIST report] prohibiting retroactive application of the anti-terror law passed in the wake of the 2002 Bali bombings. Defense lawyers are waiting to file the appeal petition until a decision has been made on the defense's request for a change of venue. The defense has argued that the appellate review should not be held in Bali due to bias.

Officials stated in July that the executions would likely take place in August [JURIST report]. Last October, the three men declined to seek presidential pardons [JURIST report] stating that they were prepared to be executed as martyrs. AP has more.