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, lawyers and relatives said.
Imam Samudra and brothers Amrozi Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron were executed at 11:20 p.m. 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-Qaida and carried out by members of the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah — thrust Indonesia onto the front lines in the war on terror.
The three never expressed remorse, saying the suicide 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 hopes 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, but 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."
Sad day for Australians
In Australia, Brian Deegan, who lost his son Josh in the bombings, said he felt "a whole lot of mixed emotions" with the news of the executions.
He staunchly opposes capital punishment and worries about revenge attacks in the wake of the executions.
"There's no shortage around the world of persons that are prepared to commit suicide to achieve a result," he said.
But Sydney resident Maria Kotronakis said she was very happy after the execution of the bombers who helped kill her two sisters and two cousins.
"We're very happy ... we've waited a very long time for this and this is our justice," Kotronakis told CNN. She said the bombers had "lost their rights to anything that's human."
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said today was a sad day for Australians.
"It's not a day that fills us with any joy or with any celebration," he told ABC Television. "My first thoughts are for the families of the victims of both the Bali bombings, it's just in my view a terrible reminder of a terrible, horrible event that occurred to family members."
He said Australia, which opposes the death penalty, will press for an international moratorium on capital punishment.
Happy to die martyrs
Though the three Bali bombers said they were happy to die martyrs, their lawyers fought for years to stop their executions, arguing they were convicted retroactively on anti-terrorism laws.
They also opposed death by firing squad, saying their clients preferred beheadings, because they were more "humane."
The executions were delayed several times, usually without explanation, but Jasman Panjaitan, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office, confirmed Sunday that the men had been killed and their bodies handed over to family members.
Mohamad Chozin said his brothers Nurhasyim, 47, and Ghufron, 48, would be taken to his mother's house, where their pictures were draped across large banners, in the East Java village of Tenggulun. Like many in Indonesia, the brothers do not share the same last name.
Suicide bombings
Hundreds of sympathizers and students from nearby Islamic boarding schools were expected to line roads and welcome them back as heroes, Chozin and others said.
But in the West Java city of Serang, Nunung, the sister of 38-year-old Samudra, said she and other family members wanted to apologize to victims on his behalf, as they have in the past. She, like many others in the country, goes by just one name.
Militants linked to Jemaah Islamiyah have been blamed for three other suicide bombings since 2002, but the Bali blasts remain the bloodiest, by far.
One attacker walked into Paddy's nightclub on a busy Saturday night, setting off a bomb attached to his vest. Minutes later, a larger car bomb exploded outside the nearby Sari Club, flattening buildings, crumpling vehicles and burning dozens of bodies beyond recognition
Samudra, Nurhasyim and Ghufron are among more than 30 people convicted in the attack.