Free Republic

Bali bombing cleric attacks western tourists By Nick Squires in Sydney Last Updated: 1:56am GMT 25/03/2008 Western tourists in Indonesia are "maggots, snakes and worms" who should be beaten up, the alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings has told hardline Islamic followers. Abu Bakar Bashir, the cleric who was convicted of conspiracy over the Bali bombings but later cleared and released from prison after 26 months, said the island resort had been overrun by scantily-clad tourists who deserved to be attacked for their immorality. "Worms, snakes, maggots... those are animals that crawl. Take a look at Bali... those infidel...

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Stephen Smith has heightened speculation the Bali bombers will be executed overnight, issuing a special terror warning to school leavers. All signs are pointing to the execution early Australian time tomorrow of Islamic militants Amrozi, his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra. "The Government is particularly aware that in mid to late November and early December, a large number of Australian school graduates may well travel to Indonesia, particularly Bali for what has become known as schoolies week,'' Mr Smith said. "We ask those young graduates and their parents to very carefully bear in mind the travel advice...

AN Indonesian Islamic cleric linked to the three extremists awaiting execution for the Bali bombings said today the 2002 attack which killed more than 200 people was the work of the CIA. Abu Bakar Bashir told AFP the US intelligence agency had fired a nuclear missile at the Bali tourist strip from a ship off the coast. "It has been mentioned as being a micro-nuclear bomb, not a regular bomb... The bomb was made by the CIA, it could be no one else," he said in his house at the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school on Indonesia's Java island. He said...

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Lawyers for three Islamic militants on death row for the 2002 Bali bombings lodged a legal challenge on Wednesday over Indonesia's method of executing convicts by firing squad, calling it inhumane. The three men -- Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas, also known as Ali Gufron -- face a firing squad for their roles in the nightclub bombings on the island of Bali that killed 202 people. "We believe that execution by way of a gunfire is inhumane. It is for these reasons that the defense attorneys are applying to challenge the legislation," said lawyer Wirawan Adnan, adding...

INDONESIAN prosecutors have scouted possible sites for the impending executions of the three death row Bali bombers. Islamic militants Amrozi, his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra could be executed at any time over the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians. Indonesia's Attorney-General Hendarman Supandji has said authorities want the trio put before a firing squad "as soon as possible" and before the start of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan in early September. Indonesia carries out executions by firing squad, but does not disclose the time or place.

THREE Bali bombers on death row over the 2002 bombings could soon be executed after a dramatic end to their final appeal today. Their lawyer Fahmi Bachmid today withdrew from their last-ditch legal appeal, bringing it to an abrupt end. Outside court, Chief Judge Ida Bagus Putu Madeg said the judges would now treat the appeal, known as a judicial review, as if it had "never existed". "With this, whatever happened in the previous hearings is considered to not exist," Madeg told AAP after the hearing for convicted terrorist Imam Samudra. "We will not convey this (case) to the Supreme...

THE three Bali bombers on death row have 30 days to lodge an appeal for presidential clemency or their executions will be carried out. Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Ali Ghufron played key roles in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people. The trio were to receive copies of a Supreme Court rejection of their demand for a case review yesterday at their jail on Nusakambangan island off the south coast of Central Java, AH Ritonga, a junior state prosecutor, said. "We are going to submit the copies of the case review verdict today to Cilacap,'' he said yesterday, referring...

THE three Bali bombers on death row say they are ready to die and will not be asking for a pardon. They have also expressed delight at the controversy surrounding their impending executions, saying the more pain they cause, the greater their reward in heaven. "I'm very happy, especially after hearing that John Howard is very angry with us," Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, the so-called smiling assassin, said yesterday at the island prison where he is held. "The more he is angry, the more I will get rewards from God, right? "The more I make infidels angry, the more I will...

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Three Indonesian militants on death row for their involvement in planning the Bali bombings five years ago said on Saturday they were ready to die and would not seek a presidential pardon. Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas, also known as Ali Gufron, were sentenced to death for the October 12, 2002 resort island bombings in which over 200 people died. They face execution by a firing squad after the country's top court rejected their appeal. "Clemency is not from Islamic law. I have been living as a Muslim and will die as a Muslim," state news agency...

ONE of the 2002 Bali bombers used a laptop smuggled to him in jail to help organise the triple suicide blasts that rocked the resort island last year, Indonesian police said today. Police say Imam Samudra used a laptop with a wireless connection smuggled into his prison cell to chat with Islamic militants and raise money for last year's October 1 blasts at Kuta and Jimbaran Bay, which killed 20 innocent bystanders, including four Australians. “Imam Samudra ... directed the fund-raising for the second Bali bombing,” the national police chief of the cyber crime unit, Petrus Golose, said in Jakarta....

Victim's brother targeted bomber By John Stapleton16sep03 THE brother of a Bali bombing victim has claimed he travelled to the island to kill one of the bombers during the trials. "The courtroom - well I tell you straight, I had organised my will and I was going there to kill him," Louie Zervos told the ABC's Four Corners last night. "I got there the day before and I went to kill him. "I finally got my senses about me and I couldn't really move in anyway, the feds were all over me." Mr Zervos, from the eastern Sydney suburb...

Jakarta - The mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings threatened on Tuesday to kill United States President George Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon if he ever gets out of jail, where he is waiting to be executed for his role in the attacks that killed 202 people. Imam Samudra made the comments as six militants jailed over the nightclub bombings had their sentences cut by two months in traditional pardons to mark independence day, authorities said. Samudra's sentence was not affected. "If I am freed, I want to continue my Jihad (holy war)," he yelled from inside his...

The mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings has threatened to kill US President George W Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon if he ever gets out of jail. Imam Samudra is in custody waiting to be executed for his role in the attacks that killed 202 people, 88 of them Australians. Samudra made the comments as six militants jailed over the nightclub bombings had their sentences cut by two months in traditional pardons to mark independence day, authorities said. Samudra's sentence was not affected. "If I am freed, I want to continue my Jihad (holy war)," he yelled from...

In a bizarre courtroom outburst, an Indonesian sentenced to death for masterminding last year's Bali nightclub bombings boasted that an army of holy warriors would soon destroy George W. Bush. Imam Samudra claimed to have sent "5,000 troops from the sky" to India, Iraq and Turkey to fight against the U.S. president. "God willing, Allah's army will win," he yelled before being bustled from the court by police on Thursday. It was unclear what he meant by his reference to the sky. Samudra had been summoned as a witness Thursday in the trial of Heri Hafidin, a minor suspect in...

IN a bizarre courtroom outburst, an Indonesian sentenced to death for masterminding last year's Bali nightclub bombings boasted today that an army of holy warriors would soon destroy George W. Bush. Imam Samudra claimed to have sent "5000 troops from the sky" to India, Iraq and Turkey to fight against the US president. "God willing, Allah's army will win," he yelled before being bustled from the court by police. It was unclear what he meant by his reference to the sky. Samudra had been summoned as a witness today in the trial of Heri Hafidin, a minor suspect in the...

The man who masterminded the Bali bombings has lost his appeal against a death sentence. Imam Samudra is the second key bomber on death row to have his appeal rejected, after Amrozi. Antara news agency reports Bali High Court chief I Made Tara has rejected the appeals of Samudra and of several others who sought lower prison terms. Samudra's lawyer Wirawan Adnan has told AFP he had not been notified of the High Court's ruling but was not surprised. He declined comment on whether Samudra will now appeal to Indonesia's Supreme Court, as Amrozi has done. Investigators believe Samudra is...

<p>BALI, Indonesia &#8212; The man who was the "intellectual mastermind" of last year's Bali nightclub bombings was sentenced yesterday to face a firing squad after being found guilty of the attacks that killed 202 persons, mostly foreign tourists.</p> <p>As the verdict was read by Judge Wayan Sugawa, Samudra, who uses only one name, shouted "God is great".</p>

AKARTA, Indonesia, Sept. 10 — A defiant Islamic militant was sentenced to death today after being convicted of playing a major role in the Bali nightclub attacks that killed 202 people last year. The defendant, Imam Samudra, 33, was described by a panel of five judges as the "intellectual actor" behind the bombings. He is the second man to be convicted in the Bali case. After hearing the sentence, Mr. Samudra, who has shown a belligerent demeanor throughout his three-month trial, shouted, "America, Australia go to hell!" In particular, he directed his anger at an Australian who waved an Australian...

Samudra was inspired by the internet to wage a holy war.IMAM Samudra yesterday became the second Bali bomber to be sentenced to death by firing squad for his role in the October 12 atrocity. He greeted the sentence with euphoric chants of "Allahu Akbar" - God is great. Earlier, during the four-and-a-half-hour sentencing, he had dramatically blocked his ears when Christian Judge Liston Sirait read to him a passage from Pope John Paul, which warned that the Government was the servant of God and had the right to punish wrongdoers for their actions. After his antics, aimed at illustrating his...

BALI, Indonesia - An Islamic militant was sentenced Wednesday to be executed by firing squad after judges found him guilty of being the "intellectual mastermind" behind last year's deadly nightclub bombings on Bali island. "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 shouted "God is Great" after the verdict was read, while several people in courtroom cheered. MORE