Jakarta - Indonesian authorities said on Wednesday they have shelved plans to execute three death-row Bali bombers before the beginning of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in September. Attorney-General Hendarman Supandji said the delay was due to the fact that his office had not yet received formal Supreme Court confirmation that the three condemned militants had exhausted all their appeals.
"We have to await the formal letter on the Supreme Court's rulings," Supandji said. "Before, I thought the execution could be carried out before the fasting month, but not anymore."
"I will let you know when it will happen," he told reporters.
Ramadan runs from September 1-30 this year.
The three condemned men - Imam Samudra, Amrozi and his brother Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas - have never shown remorse for the bombings of three nightspots in Bali in 2002 that left more than 200 people dead. The three have been on death row since 2003 when a Bali court sentenced them to death for their roles in the bombings.
Authorities said earlier that the three militants could be executed by firing squad "because they are running out of legal options" after the Supreme Court in July turned down their third appeal for a review.
Meanwhile, lawyers for the three men said after meeting with the condemned militants in Nusakambangan Island, off the southern coast of central Java, that they have formally demanding that their executions be delayed.
Lawyer Qadhar Faisal said the bombers' legal team wrote to Indonesia's attorney-general on Tuesday, asking that the impending executions be postponed while the Constitutional Court deliberates the matter.
The lawyers challenged to the Constitutional Court last week to argue death by firing squad was inhumane and therefore unconstitutional.
Executions in Indonesia are carried out by firing squad, usually at night in isolated and undisclosed locations. The death row prisoners are notified at least 72 hours in advance.
Imam Samudra, Amrozi, known also as the "smiling assassin," and Mukhlas, were members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the al-Qaeda-linked regional terrorist network responsible for several bombings across Indonesia.
These include simultaneous church bombings on Christmas Eve 2000, bombings on Bali in 2002 and 2005, the bombing of a JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2004 and an attack on the Australian Embassy in 2005.
Indonesian authorities have arrested and jailed hundreds of militants in the past few years, seriously damaging the group, terrorism experts say.
