Pat Dollard

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Amrozi, left, and Mukhlas prepare for their fate.

November 10, 2008
Herald Sun

AMROZI, the smiling assassin, was not so brave when faced with his own death.

Sources involved in the execution process said the three Bali bombers accepted their fate without a struggle when they were shackled hand and foot and led from their jail cells to the execution ground.

Amrozi was the least brave, and looked “pale” and afraid, one source said.

He was also the quickest to die after all three were strapped to wooden posts and shot by a firing squad.

His older brother Mukhlas was more defiant, shouting Allah akbar — God is great — until the end.

It is believed Amrozi was tied to the middle post with Mukhlas to his right and Imam Samudra, the third bomber, on his left.

The three bombers opted not to be blindfolded in the lead-up to their execution by firing squad, officials said.

The three were standing when the shots rang out.

They were chained to separate 2m-high poles, several metres from each other, and a doctor placed a marker over the exact position of their hearts.

Then the 12 specially trained police snipers lined up facing each of them, who after receiving the final order from their commander, simultaneously peppered their bodies with 5.6mm bullets.

Only one sniper in each group of 12 had a live bullet, said Jasmine Pandjaitan, a spokesman for Indonesia’s Attorney-General’s office.

The three condemned men did not put up a fight before their executions, he said.

“They were very co-operative,” he said of the convicted terrorists.

“They died immediately, a few moments after they were shot,” he added.

After the three were pronounced dead, their bodies were taken to a health clinic for autopsy, and then prepared for burial, in line with Islamic custom.

A brother of Amrozi and Mukhlas, Ali Fauzi, brought two 20m pieces of fabric from his home village in which to wrap the bodies of his siblings.

Amrozi was the most reviled of the bombers, smiling and gloating about the bombings after he was captured.

After he was sentenced to death, he cheered and gave the thumbs-up to the judges and survivors in court.

It was a different story on Saturday night as about 30 members of the paramilitary police Brimob arrived at Batu Jail on Nusa Kambangan Island, off the cost of central Java.

Wearing balaclavas to hide their identity, the officers went to the death row cells and shackled the three men.

“They looked like they accepted their fate. They didn’t struggle,” a witness said.

Their ankles were bound so tightly they had to shuffle from their cells. The rest of the jail was silent as they called out “Allah Akbar”.

“They were shouting but it was not really loud. The situation was quite calm. Not all three of them were shouting at once. It was separately, one then the other,” a source said.

They were taken to double-cab pick-up trucks. Each bomber was put in the middle of the second row of seats, flanked by armed police. More police sat in the back.

The vehicles drove in convoy to the execution site at Nirbaya, about 3km south of the jail. Amrozi was in the first vehicle, followed by Samudra then Mukhlas.

It took longer than anticipated to reach the site because a torrential downpour earlier in the night made the narrow and windy track slippery and difficult to negotiate.

When they arrived, the bombers were taken from the vehicles and tied to posts.

They were ministered to by three Muslim preachers who read from the Koran.

Bali prosecutor Ida Bagus Wiswantanu then read out the execution order, detailing their crimes and the death sentence.

At 12.15am local time, the order was given to fire.

It was a dark night, with the moon shrouded by cloud. But the air was crisp and clean after the earlier monsoon rain.

At 12.20am, a doctor pronounced them dead and at 12.25am the three bodies were untied and taken to a nearby jail clinic for autopsies.

The bodies were washed in the Muslim tradition.