Opinions split as executions of Bali bombers near
TENGGULUN, Indonesia (Reuters) - Some see Indonesia's three Bali bombers as misguided militants, others consider them martyrs to a cause. Either way, the bombers have acquired celebrity status in local media in recent weeks.
The attorney general's office has said the three militants -- Imam Samudra, Mukhlas and Amrozi -- would be executed in early November for their role in the 2002 nightclub bombings on the resort island, in which 202 people died.
Foreign and domestic media have camped out at a port near the prison island where the bombers are being held, on watch for any sign the executions have taken place -- the sound of gunshots, or the sight of helicopters taking off from Nusakambangan island to carry the bombers' bodies to their hometowns for burial.
The sight of an ambulance, or of police trucks ferrying officers to and from the island, is enough to send the media into a frenzy. Every time officials from the prosecutor's office or relatives of the bombers come to the port, reporters dash through the pouring rain, hoping to get a comment or two.
Some reporters even rented a small boat to get a closer look at the island, usually a 20-minute trip by ferry. But their plan was foiled as police stopped the boat and sent them back to Cilacap on the main island of Java.
"I don't understand why the government hasn't executed them," said Effendi Choirie, a member of parliament from the Nation's Awakening Party (PKB), a party linked to Indonesia's biggest moderate Muslim group, Nahdlatul Ulama.
"They are murderers, and murderers must be murdered because they have tainted Islam," he said.
"Amrozi is just part of a small group of people who misunderstand Islam. If the government executes them, Indonesian Muslims are right behind the government." Continued...
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