DENPASAR: Key Bali bomb suspect Amrozi refused yesterday to plead for leniency as his trial neared a close, saying he did not want “infidels” to think he feared a death sentence.
Amrozi said he was leaving it to his lawyers to counter the prosecution's demand that he should face a firing squad.
“I am worried that the prosecutor and those infidels, hypocrites, tyrannical people will deem that I am afraid of being punished by death,” Amrozi told the five judges.
After hearing the defence comments, chief judge I Made Karna announced that the verdict would be passed on Aug 7.
Police say the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group staged the attack on two nightspots, which killed 202 people last October 12, to avenge Western oppression of Muslims in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Amrozi, a village mechanic, was the first suspect to be arrested and to face a court and will be the first to receive a verdict. His elder brother Mukhlas is already on trial and a younger brother Ali Imron went on trial yesterday.
A fourth key suspect, Imam Samudra, is also before a court along with numerous lower-level accomplices, More than 30 people have been arrested for the worst terror attack since Sept 11.
Prosecutors last week said Amrozi was guilty of planning the bombings and should pay the ultimate price for “a cruel and inhuman slaughter.”
He was dubbed the “laughing bomber” when he was filmed giggling and joking during an interview last November with Indonesian police chief Da'i Bachtiar. – AFP
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