Indonesia prosecutor says Bali bombers likely to be executed in August News
Indonesia prosecutor says Bali bombers likely to be executed in August

[JURIST] Three men convicted in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings [BBC report] will likely be executed [JURIST report] in late August, a spokesman from the Bali district attorney's office said Tuesday. Under Indonesian law, head of Denpasar's district attorney office Made Suratmaja cannot disclose the location or date when the three men will be executed by firing squad, but said that the district attorney's office notified the convicts and their families that preparations for their execution have begun. The attorney general's office also said it had received permission from the country's Justice and Human Rights Ministry [ministry website] to change the location of the execution from Bali to Nusakambangan, the jurisdiction where the three men have been detained since their conviction two years ago. Indonesia usually executes inmates in the jurisdiction where they committed the criminal act, but safety precautions have prompted the district attorney's office to seek an alternate location.

Suratmaja said the execution may be delayed pending an appeal. A lawyer representing the three bombers has said he plans to appeal the executions to the Indonesian Supreme Court [official website], arguing that the convictions "violated the Constitution Court's ruling that laws cannot be retroactive." The three bombers were convicted under a terrorism law enacted after the 2002 bombings took place. Victims [JURIST report] of the 2002 bombings and other protestors [JURIST report] have previously called on the government to expedite the executions of those involved in the Bali bombings, but under Indonesian law convicts and their families must be given the opportunity to pursue all avenues for appeal [JURIST report] before such a sentence is carried out. The family of one of the three men, Imam Samudra [BBC profile], announced in April that they would not pursue clemency on his behalf [JURIST report]. Last October, all three declined to seek presidential pardons [JURIST report], saying they are prepared to be executed as martyrs. Reuters has more.

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