Posted on 06/23/2003 10:20:36 AM PDT by knighthawk
AUSTRALIAN rage finally erupted in an Indonesian court yesterday when Bali bomb victim Jake Ryan rushed forward and shouted at alleged bombing field commander Imam Samudra: "You're a f . . king dog, mate, you are going to die, you f . . k."
Samudra was being led from the court with a police officer on either side when Mr Ryan lost control. The small defendant barely flinched as the big Gold Coast footballer shouted at him, in the first direct confrontation between an accused Bali bomber and an Australian victim of the bombing attacks.
For weeks, various of the Australian injured and bereaved have sat silently in the Denpasar court, listening as the self-confessed Bali bombers shout "Allahu akbar" (God is great) and exhort their lawyers to greater efforts.
The victims have been warned not to vent their feelings, yet the waist-high metal fence separating the audience from the front of the court failed to stop Mr Ryan confronting the Islamic extremist.
Indonesian police in the court did not immediately respond to the clamour, and it is understood they have been told to take action only if someone tries to get over the fence.
Mr Ryan, 22, a Southport Sharks Australian Rules player, lost a close friend in the blasts that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, on October 12 last year, as well as being badly injured himself by shrapnel. After the confrontation he left quietly with his brother, Mitchell.
He said he was "pumped" to have attracted Samudra's attention and make him respond. "I suppose I just wanted him to look at us just once," he said. "When he started shouting, I thought, 'Smart arse, I'll have you'. Then he stopped in front of us and started chanting in Arabic. I was ready to jump the fence.
"I'm glad I got the opportunity. I know a lot of people have left feeling frustrated. At least I got to give him a spray, which was good and got a bit of acknowledgment, which was even better."
David Stewart was also in court listening to the killer of his son, Anthony. Wearing a T-shirt with a picture of his son on it, he said he had never hated anybody before, yet he had to restrain himself from attacking the defendant.
"Him and all his mates, you just can't express the feelings," he said. "How much hate is in there, in a man that's so small. He's just a mongrel."
Mr Stewart said he did not know how bombing survivor, retired AFL player Jason McCartney, had maintained control while appearing as a witness last week. "Getting so close to them, I don't think I could handle it," he said.
In an emotion-filled day in the Bali court, the alleged operations commander of the Bali attacks, Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, claimed he had been tortured by police.
In a long statement that he read to the court, Mukhlas said the investigating police tortured him to obtain statements implicating extremist Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir in various terrorist acts.
In a shrill voice which occasionally rose to a shriek, Mukhlas said he had been photographed and videoed naked, and was told the film and the photos would be sent to his wife. He said the torture included beatings and scalding with hot water. "During the interrogation, the way they interrogated me, made me scared . . ." he said
Mukhlas's statement follows on from the claims last week of his younger brother, Amrozi bin Nurahsyim, that he had seen his brother tor tured and he had been threatened with torture himself.
"They pressed me to confess that I met Bashir in Thailand," Mukhlas said yesterday. "And I was pressed to confess Abu Bakar Bashir tried to kill Megawati (Sukarnoputri, the current president of Indonesia), and also the tragedy of the Bali bombings."
Hear, hear! Well said. Couldn't have said it better myself.
For weeks, various of the Australian injured and bereaved have sat silently in the Denpasar court, listening as the self-confessed Bali bombers shout "Allahu akbar" (God is great) and exhort their lawyers to greater efforts.
It takes probably every ounce of their self-control to sit quietly and listen to those beasts.
Justice is going to roll down like a river on these animals, one way or another, and they'll at last find out just how great God is, indeed.
Awwwwwww....mean man say awful things to poor baby.
Show us the scars, mate. If you have them, good.
FMCDH
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