'Don't kill Bali bombers'

2008-07-18 09:33

Jakarta - The father of an Australian killed in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings asked Indonesia not to execute three militants convicted in the blasts, saying Friday "no good, only harm" would come from their deaths.

"Nothing will return my son to me, to his mother, his family and his friends," Brian Deegan said in an open letter to Indonesian authorities. "But the execution of a selected few who were responsible for his death and the death and maiming of hundreds more will not cure the pain."

Deegans's son Joshua was one of the 202 people killed in the October 12 blasts on the resort island. Most of the victims were foreign tourists. Authorities have convicted more than 30 Islamic militants in the blasts, three of whom are on death row.

On Thursday, an Indonesian court said it had rejected a final appeal by the trio, bringing their executions closer. The three can still appeal for clemency to the president, but have said they will not do so.

Deegan, a barrister and a magistrate in his native Australia, said he and Joshua were opposed to the death penalty in all cases. His letter was released with his permission by the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, a regional group that campaigns against state executions.

He said killing the three men - who have shown no remorse and maintain their acts were sanctioned under Islam as revenge for Muslim deaths in Afghanistan and elsewhere - risked turning them into martyrs.

He urged the death penalty to be commuted to life imprisonment.

"I see that no good will come from their execution. I see only harm," he wrote. "I will not beg for their lives to be spared. But I seek that which I consider more appropriate. A penalty which will serve as a constant reminder to others. A penalty which will not destroy the lives of their families."

The Bali attacks were carried out by members and associates of Jemaah Islamiyah, a local network of mostly Afghan trained militants, with al-Qaeda providing money and some expertise, police and former militants have said.

Islamic militants have carried out three other major attacks on Western targets in Indonesia since then, the last in 2005, also on Bali, when three suicide bombers killed 11 people in restaurant attacks.

The execution of the men could trigger a backlash in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, but most analysts expect any reaction to be small and likely be limited to a show of solidarity at their funeral.

Indonesia Muslims are overwhelmingly moderate. While most people disapprove of the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and Washington's support for Israel, very few support al-Qaeda style attacks on civilian targets, at home or abroad.

- AP