Bombers' execution set for dawn, August 22
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THE Bali bombers responsible for killing 202 people in the Kuta nightclub attacks could have less than three weeks to live.
The three killers - Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, Imam Samudra and Ali Gufron - will be shot at dawn on August 22, barring any 11th-hour appeals.
Relatives of the men were told of the execution date last week.
The trio will be taken from their cells on the island jail of Nusakambangan, off the south coast of Java, and driven to the nearby beach where they will be blindfolded and shot.
Amrozi, 43, dubbed the smiling assassin, Samudra, 36, and Gufron, 46, also known as Mukhlas, have refused calls by their lawyers to lodge final appeals, saying they want to die as martyrs.
But lawyers are still saying they will file an appeal for a judicial review, claiming the anti-terrorism laws under which the men were prosecuted should not be applied retrospectively.
Relatives of the 88 Australian victims are hoping the August 22 executions proceed.
"The fact they are being executed is fantastic. They have nothing to add to humanity, they are just evil people," said Garth O'Donnell, whose sister Amber was killed in the Sari Club attack.
"They deserve it. They are willing to go out and kill other innocent people.
"The executions won't help my family in any way. It doesn't bring my sister back, but I suppose it is some closure."
The Federal Government said it would not oppose the executions despite objecting to the death penalty.
"The Bali bombers were tried and convicted by Indonesian courts and found guilty of the most heinous of crimes," a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said.
"They have shown no remorse for their actions, which led to the deaths of 202 people, including 88 Australians in Bali.
"The Australian Government has not protested to the Indonesian Government over its imposition of the maximum sentence under Indonesian law and does not intend to do so."
The three condemned men are among more than 30 people convicted over the October 12, 2002 nightclub bombings that were carried out by Jemaah Islamiah, a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda.
Another three bombings were carried out in Bali last October and security authorities will be on alert as the anniversary approaches again.
An Australian Government source said the lead-up to the executions was being monitored closely, but conceded they may yet be delayed by a judicial review before Indonesia's Supreme Court.
Lawyer Wiranan Adnan has said he would ask for a review despite the killers' refusal to seek presidential clemency.
Mr Adnan has also said he would sue the Indonesian Government if the men were executed before an appeal.
The men were convicted under terrorism laws established after the 2002 attacks and Indonesia's constitution does not allow retrospective prosecutions.
An earlier appeal against the conviction was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors asked relatives of the men in April whether they planned to seek mercy, but the families said they did not.
Those families were handed letters last week setting August 22 as the execution date.
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