ASIA: Bombers' brother ordered to wait to receive bodies: report<
08 Nov 2008 10:55 PMBy Marion Carroll
DENPASAR, Bali Nov 8 AAPAFP - The younger brother of Bali bombers Amrozi and Mukhlas has been ordered to wait in a room at Nusakambangan prison to receive his dead brothers bodies within hours, online news site detik.com reported.
Ali Fauzi has been denied a final visit with the Islamic militants ahead oftheir executions at the prison island off Central Java, lawyer Mahendradatta said.
A lawyer for the bombers, Achmad Michdan, told media today it was a "possibility" his clients would be executed Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
Prosecutors said they may make an announcement about the executions laterSaturday night, but did not elaborate.
With the executions of Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra imminent, authorities ordered Fauzi to wait in a room at their island prison to receive their bodies and make sure they were being handled in accordance with Islamic sharia law, Mahendradatta said.
"He (Fauzi) was told to wait in a room to see the bodies, to make sure theprocess complies with Islamic sharia law," Mahendradatta was quoted as saying by detik.com.
"Why is the family only allowed to see the dead bodies? Once again, they are not to see them in living condition. So it is not a family meeting as meant within the law."
Mahendradatta speculated that Fauzi was denied permission to see his brothers alive because of fears he may find that they had been mistreated.
"(Possibly) because they are worried there is something Amrozi and his friends may say that will cause their operation (executions) to be aborted. For instance if Amrozi is tortured or executed beforehand," he said.
Amid fears that the trio's supporters would seek to avenge their executions, police were reportedly worried that the bombers would order Fauzi to launch an attack if they allowed a final visit.
"Who can guarantee if he (Amrozi) won't give a message to the family to fight, we are afraid there will be mass radicalisation," a police source told local newspaper Radar Banyumas.
Protests by Islamic militants against the executions have been slowly building as the execution process has dragged on.
The Australian government today warned of reprisal attacks, with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith saying the government was receiving new "credible evidence" of the threat of terrorist attacks.
Among the warnings he singled out in a travel advisory were that "the executions could prompt a strong reaction from their supporters such as demonstrations, acts of violence and reprisal attacks".
Tourists should be especially careful around beaches, bars, malls and othervenues associated with tourists, the advice says.
However, Mr Smith said the travel advice to Indonesia had not changed from the second highest level of "reconsider your need to travel".
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