CILACAP, Indonesia — Indonesia executed three Islamic militants Saturday for helping plan and carry out the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.
Imam Samudra, 38, and brothers Amrozi Nurhasyim, 47, and Ali Ghufron, 48, were executed several miles from their high-security prison on Nusakambangan island, said Qadar Faisal, one of their attorneys.
Their bodies will be taken by helicopter to their home villages for burial, he said.
The Oct. 12, 2002, twin nightclub attacks — allegedly funded by al-Qaeda and carried out by members of the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah — thrust the world’s most populous Muslim nation onto the front lines in the war on terrorism.
The three never expressed remorse, saying the bombings were meant to punish the U.S. and its Western allies for alleged atrocities in Afghanistan and elsewhere. They even taunted relatives of victims at their trials five years ago.
In recent months, the men had publicly expressed hope their executions would trigger revenge attacks in Indonesia. The capital has been on high alert, with extra police deployed at embassies, shopping malls and offices. Most analysts expect any reaction to be small and limited to demonstrations, bomb hoaxes and show of solidarity at the men’s’ funerals.
“But everyone should be extra vigilant, at least for the next week,” said Ken Conboy, a Jakarta-based security expert, noting that even small, peaceful rallies “can quickly spin out of control.”
The three men were among more than 30 people convicted in connection with the bombings.
