Alleged Mastermind Denies Bali Bombings

BALI, Indonesia -- The alleged mastermind of last year's deadly Bali bombings testified Monday that he is not afraid of a death sentence but denied involvement in the blasts.

Imam Samudra, a 33-year-old textile merchant, declared his innocence when he read out a formal defense plea in the Oct. 12 blasts that killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.

"I am not afraid of being sentenced to death because what I have done so far has put me on the road to Allah, and is in line with the teachings of Islam," he said.

Prosecutors said Samudra -- who could also be executed if convicted -- was the mastermind behind the plot, and recruited and trained the bombers.

About three dozen men, all accused of being members of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, have been arrested in the Bali bombings. The group is linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network.

Samudra acknowledged he had surveyed several locations in Bali with another key suspect, Ali Imron.

"I only took a walk around Bali with Ali Imron. I did not know what he was planning," he said, reading out the statement. "I saw many foreigners who were drunk. They were disgusting. They made me sick," he said.

Samudra claimed the United States and its allies had attacked and mistreated Muslims.

"Muslims have been made scapegoats for American terrorism around the world," Samudra said.

An Australian survivor Ben Tullipan, 37, who had both his legs blown off in the blast sat in his wheelchair and listened to Samudra's plea.

"I came here to see the (man) who did this to me," he said emotionally. "It's very hard to get over."

Last week an Indonesian court brought down the first conviction in the case, sentencing Amrozi bin Nurhasyim to death. Lawyers for Amrozi said they had filed an appeal against his conviction and death sentence.

Amrozi was convicted Thursday of helping plan and execute the attacks. He has repeatedly said he was ready to die as a martyr and appeared overjoyed when the sentence was read out.

"We have persuaded him to exhaust all avenues to get justice. He was guilty for his role in the attack, but he was not the planner so we do not think he should be shot to death," said his lawyer, Oktriyan.

Death sentences, which are rare in Indonesia, are carried out by a firing squad.

But Oktriyan said the appeal would note that there was no evidence other than testimonies of other defendants placing Amrozi at the planning sessions, and that these were weak and inconsistent.

At least four of the 35 members of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist gang captured since last year's attacks face charges that carry a possible death sentence.

Samudra apologises . . . to some

By Martin Chulov, Bali August 12, 2003

BLIND to the law of his land, and insisting his deeds were dignified under Islamic doctrine, the alleged chief Bali bomber, Imam Samudra, said yesterday he would embrace a death penalty because it would lead him closer to his god.

Samudra remained unrepentant and defiant as he launched his defence but, for the first time in his many appearances in the Denpasar courtroom, he also appeared considered and prepared to concede his bomb caused unintended casualties.

They were the Muslims and the Balinese people killed in the bombs of last October 12, whose souls – in a gesture of respect – he addressed in a brief passage of high Balinese, in which he claimed they were not his enemies.

"For the Muslim people who are family, and for the victims, I pray today may Allah forget their sins. For the Balinese people, I apologise, if there were any errors."

But there was no sympathy spared for the Western victims, especially the Australian and American casualties.

"After the events of September 11, the mujaheddin have always been blamed and considered cruel and inhumane and America, as a result, was considered to be a hero and the world's policeman," Samudra said. "For the death of American people, I am grateful to the god.

"I am not sorry for the deaths of America and its allies."

Samudra repeated to the court a barb directed at Australia in his statement to police following his arrest last October: "Do Indonesian people forget that in 1998 and 1999 Australia joined in helping East Timor from being separated from Indonesia?" he said.

Samudra said he would welcome the death penalty as demanded by the prosecution two weeks ago.

"I'd like to thank the prosecutor because with death I become peaceful, with death I get close to Allah. Death is not something of which I am afraid," he said.

"I only fear Allah. I believe that Islam is the absolute truth."

Much of Samudra's defence was taken up with his attempts to explain his interpretations of jihad and his urging of prosecutors to pay heed to Islam and the Koran.

He spent little time trying to disprove the facts presented by the prosecution, except to again deny that a crucial meeting last September was called to plan the Bali attack and to deny that images and text found on his laptop amounted to a claim of responsibility.

Samudra was taunted by the small public gallery – mostly comprised of police officers – as he denied he knew that gold bars used to fund the plot had been stolen during a shoot-out in West Java.

He described the US as a "satan" and President George W. Bush as a "vampire" who was behind all world terrorism.

But his key theme was to challenge Indonesian authorities' right to prosecute him for an act committed under the name of Islam.

"What happened is said to be an extraordinary crime, but they have treated me as an ordinary criminal," he said. "It is extraordinary because it is about something that I truly believe in. It is based on the Koran, which is an extraordinary book. It cannot be based on a Dutch law book," he said.

Later, the alleged spiritual leader of the plot, Mukhlas, arrived in court to be told by a judge he had received a letter and some photographs from Mukhlas's wife, who was about to be deported to Malaysia.

A court in Central Java had ruled that she could not take her son, Osama, who was born after Mukhlas was arrested last November. Osama has instead been taken to his father's home village of Tenggulun and placed in the care of a wet nurse who will raise him until he is older.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6926557%255E2703,00.html

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