Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Protesters Storm Bali Prison

On the third anniversary of the 2002 Bali attacks, hundreds of angry Indonesians stormed the jail housing the convicted Bali bombers, demanding their immediate execution. Demonstrators tore down a concrete fence and jostled with dozens of riot police while attempting to break down the front door of the jail.

From the BBC:
Wearing traditional Balinese headbands and sarongs, about 500 people tried to break into Denpasar's Kerobokan jail on Wednesday, shouting: "Kill Amrozi, kill Amrozi!" and "We have been waiting for three years."

Amrozi was the first militant to be arrested, and was nicknamed the "smiling bomber" for his apparent indifference to victims of the attacks.

While he, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas have been sentenced to death for their involvement in the attacks, they are still on death row waiting for the end of their appeals process.

The crowd called for Amrozi's immediate execution, a demand which our correspondent says would be very hard to achieve under Indonesia's legal system.

The mob was also angry that Amrozi and four other men had been moved from Bali on Tuesday to a more secure prison on the island of Nusakambangan, east of Java.

"We are angry [Amrozi] has been moved from here," one protester, Endra, told the French news agency AFP. "We feel Amrozi is being protected by the government."
The majority Hindu Balinese population is fed up with the terrorists and with the government not appearing to be doing much to stop them.

Companion post at In The Bullpen.

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