Execution is Imminent for Bali Nightclub Bombers
The three men have refused to seek clemency saying they want to die as martyrs.
JAKARTA, INDONESIA Aug. 27, 2008— -- The execution of the three men convicted for bombing a nightclub in Bali in 2002 is imminent. Amrozi Nurhasyim, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron have been held responsible for the deaths of 202 people, mostly Australians and Indonesians, who were killed at or near a disco in the popular tourist destination of Kuta in Bali.
The three men have been on death row for five years and have refused to seek presidential clemency, wishing to die as martyrs, and believing that their fate lies in God's hands.
"To die a martyr's death is my wish and dream," Samudra and Ghufron wrote in a letter provided by their legal defense team, according to The Jakarta Post. "If God has predestined me to be killed by infidels, as well as hypocrites by way of execution, it means God has fulfilled my wishes... Praise be to God."
Letters have been sent to their families in preparation.
With four days remaining before the start of the holy month of Ramadan, the expected deadline to carry out the executions by firing squad, the final confirmation by the Supreme Court is not yet complete.
Nasir Abas, the brother-in-law of Ali Ghufron, is a former top commander of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), one of the largest terrorist groups in South East Asia. In 2003 Abas defected after being arrested and is now working with police to rehabilitate and reeducate Islamic extremists about the true meaning of Islam.
"My mission now is I want to bring them back to the right part, to the right understanding of what is Islam's struggle," Abas tells ABC News.
"Islam is peace, religious. Islam is the defend for their rights. Not to kill innocent people. Because the innocent is also God's creation. We are all God's creation. We need to respect to the others," he says.
Abas says he has tried talking to his brother-in-law and that Ghufron wrote him letters that he has not yet replied to.
"He said that I'm not a Muslim anymore. I'm infidel. He will never accept me as a Muslim," says Abas who is Malaysian and was born in Singapore.
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