And if they’re executed, they say they’ll die as “martyrs”: “If we are executed, then the drops of our blood, God willing, will become a ray of light for the faithful Muslim people and a burning hell or fire for the infidels and hypocrites.”
Yet all these years later, Western analysts, law enforcement officials, and governments are still in denial about the religious aspects of this conflict, and have done nothing — nothing — to try to counter the jihadist appeal among Muslims.
“Bombers’ jail rant,” by Cindy Wockner for the Sunday Herald Sun (thanks to all who sent this in):
THE Bali bombers are unrepentant and willing to die as martyrs five years after their crimes killed and injured hundreds.
In a letter to the people of Indonesia, the three main bombers say they will continue their Jihad if allowed to live.
The letter — written from their jail cell this week and titled “Attitude Statement” — paints the trio as unrepentant Islamic warriors, remorseless and vowing to continue their Jihad or be executed and ascend to heaven.
The so-called smiling assassin, Amrozi, his older brother, Mukhlas alias Ali Ghufron, and Imam Samudra, sentenced to death for their pivotal roles in the 2002 Kuta bombings, have all recently lost their final appeals against the death penalty, but no date has been set for their executions. They told their lawyer Achmad Michdan during a recent jail visit, after their final appeal was rejected, they were ready to face their fate and welcomed death.
Through the lawyer, they released a two-page statement about their options — which, they said, benefited them, not their enemies.
They face three options, they say.
The first is freedom to continue religious teaching and Jihad and to die as martyrs in the battlefield, “God willing”.
The second is be executed and meet “our lovers, our Prophets and beautiful angels”.
“If we are executed, then the drops of our blood, God willing, will become a ray of light for the faithful Muslim people and a burning hell or fire for the infidels and hypocrites,” the three say in their letter. The third option is to stay in jail, where, they say, they will become closer to God.