[JURIST] A spokesman for Indonesia's Attorney General Friday said the execution of three men sentenced to death for their roles in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings [BBC backgrounder] will be held in early November. The spokesman, Jasman Panjaitan, said that the three members of the southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) [CFR backgrounder; JURIST news archive], Mukhlas, Imam Samudra and Amrozi Nurhasyim [BBC profiles], had exhausted all available appeals and would now have their sentences carried out. Most recently, Indonesia's Constitutional Court earlier this week rejected [JURIST report] a request by the men that their execution be carried out by beheading rather than firing squad. Despite the Attorney General's position, a lawyer for the men said he still plans to file a new challenge [Xinhua report] to the sentence in the country's Supreme Court next week. The execution of the men, expected to be protested by thousands, has been characterized [Reuters report] as a test of the Indonesian government's ability to control extreme Islamic groups. AFP has more.

In August, Indonesia's attorney general postponed the execution [JURIST report] of the three men during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, saying the legal challenge alone was insufficient to stay the sentences. A lawyer for the men had promised to bring their constitutional challenge after the Indonesian Supreme Court rejected the third appeal [JURIST reports] in July. Their first appeal had been rejected late last year, prompting an unusual second appeal, which was later withdrawn [JURIST reports]. In May, Indonesian police arrested [JURIST report] another JI member, Faiz Fauzan, in connection with a second set of Bali bombings [BBC report] in 2005. In March, an Indonesian judge handed down 15-year sentences [JURIST report] to two JI leaders, Zarkasih and Abu Dujana [BBC profiles], after convicting them of other terrorism charges.