Fed: Relief at Amrozi's conviction over Bali bombing

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Fed: Relief at Amrozi's conviction over Bali bombing

SYDNEY, Aug 8 AAP - The death penalty handed down to Bali bomber Amrozi bin Nurhasyimhas divided politicians, relatives and survivors of the October 12 blast.

Amrozi, known as the smiling assassin, was yesterday the first of the Bali bombersto be convicted and sentenced to death for his role in the blasts that killed 202 people,including 88 Australians, last October.

Many of the survivors and families of those killed in the blasts at Kuta Beach's Paddy'sBar and Sari Club have welcomed the penalty, and Prime Minister John Howard and OppositionLeader Simon Crean have not opposed it.

But some families of Australian victims, a group of British Bali bombing victims andAustralian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett have opposed the penalty.

As Amrozi was led out of the courtroom after the verdict and the sentence was handeddown late yesterday, he smiled broadly at Australian survivors, some of whom shouted backangrily.

Australian Brad Phillips, 31, of Perth's Kingsley football club, screamed out "die Amrozi".

"It's sensational, it's a weight off my shoulders," he told reporters when asked inDenpasar about the verdict and sentence.

In Australia, there was a mixture of relief and despair that Amrozi would be executed.

One of the strongest reactions against the death penalty came from Adelaide magistrateBrian Deegan, whose son Josh died in the Sari Club blast.

"I don't believe in the death penalty and I would hate to think that somebody's lifewas going to be taken in my son's name," Mr Deegan told AAP.

The other side of the emotional spectrum was revealed in Kevin Paltridge of Perth,another father who lost a son.

"He (Amrozi) sentenced my son and six of his friends to death, so it is only rightthat he has been sentenced to death," Mr Paltridge said.

In the middle were people such as Jake Ryan, who lost his foot in the blast.

"I would have preferred for him to rot in jail," said Ryan, 22, whose also lost fivemates to the bombs.

"But if they want to shoot him, that's fine."

Mr Howard said Australia would not make any approach to Indonesia to overturn the decisionto impose the death penalty.

"I hope this verdict provides some sense of comfort for those who lost their lovedones in this tragedy, and that they feel in some way justice has been done," he told reporters.

"So far as the imposition of the death penalty is concerned, it will not be the intentionof the Australian government to make any representations to the government of Indonesiathat that penalty not be carried out."

Mr Crean said he would have preferred a long jail sentence - but the Indonesian court'sverdict should be respected.

"I don't agree with capital punishment, but the fact is the crime was committed onIndonesian soil, and the Indonesian courts have handed down the death penalty. I won'tbe seeking to interfere in that decision," Mr Crean said.

The United States also welcomed the death sentence slapped on Amrozi.

"We commend the government of Indonesia for the professional manner in which it conductedthis trial. The court's decision is a clear sign that Indonesia is serious about combattingterrorism," Tara Rigler, a State Department spokeswoman, said today.

Indonesian Islamic leaders said they had no reason to object to Amrozi's death sentence.

Din Syamsuddin, secretary general of the Indonesian Ulamas' Council (MUI), Indonesia'shighest authority on Islamic matters, said "there is no reason for us to object" to thesentence, as long as the court was a just one.

"From the Islamic legal perspective....anybody who kills another person without reasondeserves to be sanctioned with the death penalty, if the court is based on justice," Syamsuddinsaid.

Senator Bartlett said the execution of Amrozi would be a barbaric act.

Relatives of the 26 Britons killed want Amrozi's sentence commuted to life imprisonmentto avoid turning him into a martyr.

The UK Bali Bombing Victims' Group said it welcomed his conviction, saying the attackshad ended 202 lives and ruined many more.

"However, we are devastated he has been given a death sentence," the relatives saidin a statement.

"We don't want him to become a martyr - it is difficult to see how this sentence willachieve anything other than this."

Amrozi's defence team said it would appeal the sentence, even though Amrozi did notwant to do so.

Amrozi has said that he wants to die a martyr.

Other key suspects, including two of his brothers, will also face a verdict in coming weeks.

AAP var/jlw/lb

KEYWORD: BALI TRIAL AUST SECOND DAYLEAD