BALI, 11 September 2003 — The man accused of being the “intellectual mastermind” of last year’s Bali nightclub bombings was sentenced yesterday to face a firing squad, the second time an Indonesian court has invoked the death penalty for the attack that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
“Imam Samudra has been clearly proven to have planned a terrorist act, and we hand down the sentence of death,” Judge Wayan Sugawa said.
Samudra, who showed no remorse during his trial, shouted “God is great” after the verdict of the five-judge panel was read out.
Cheers erupted in the courtroom and Samudra pumped his fist into the air as he was led out by police.
“Go to hell, you infidels,” he yelled in English as he passed some victims’ relatives who attended the hearing. His lawyers said they would appeal despite his earlier calls for martyrdom over what was the worst terror strike since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
About 30 suspects have been arrested in the Bali attacks. All are accused of being members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah militant network.
It is blamed for a string of deadly blasts in Southeast Asia — the latest being an Aug. 5 hotel blast in Jakarta that killed 12 people. The death sentence against Samudra is the second to be handed down for the Oct 12. Bali bombings and adds to a patchy record by Indonesia’s criminal justice system in its bid to crack down on terrorism.
Five men have so far been convicted for the carnage in Bali. Last month, judges ordered the execution of coconspirator Amrozi bin Nurhasyim. Three accomplices have been sentenced to between 15 and 16 years in jail.
Last week, a Jakarta court sentenced Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir — who Western governments say is Jemaah Islamiyah’s spiritual leader — to only four years’ imprisonment for sedition related to a separate spate of attacks.
Earlier this year, another tribunal acquitted Jafar Umar Thalib, leader of the now-defunct Laskar Jihad militia, which is accused of killing thousands of Christians in a vicious sectarian war in the Maluku islands.
Of those killed in the Bali bombings, 88 were Australians. That country immediately welcomed yesterday’s decision, even though it has outlawed capital punishment.
“The Indonesians are sending out a very strong message that if you become involved in acts of terror then ... you risk your life,” said Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.
