THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 2002 BALI BOMBINGS

In loving memory of the 202 victims who died in the 2002 Bali Bombings ten years ago this day. Let us hear from the victims’ families:

The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack was claimed as the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia according to the current police general, killing 202 people, (including 88 Australians, and 38 Indonesian citizens). A further 240 people were injured.

Various members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a violent Islamist group, were convicted in relation to the bombings, including three individuals who were sentenced to death. The attack involved the detonation of three bombs: a backpack-mounted device carried by a suicide bomber; a large car bomb, both of which were detonated in or near popular nightclubs in Kuta; and a third much smaller device detonated outside the United States consulate in Denpasar, causing only minor damage. An audio-cassette purportedly carrying a recorded voice message from Osama Bin Laden stated that the Bali bombings were in direct retaliation for support of the United States' war on terror and Australia's role in the liberation of East Timor.

On 9 November 2008, Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and Huda bin Abdul Haq were executed by firing squad on the island prison of Nusakambangan at 00:15 local time (17:15 UTC).

On 9 March 2010, Dulmatin, nicknamed "the Genius" – believed to be responsible for setting off one of the Bali bombs with a mobile phone – was killed in a shoot-out with Indonesian police in Jakarta.

The Bali bombing memorial at the site of the original Paddy's Pub across the road from the site of the now demolished Sari club (to the left of this picture)

John Croxford, who lost his wife in the Bali bombing, with his only daughter Breanna. Photo: Eddie Jim

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/chance-to-move-on-with-life/story-e6frf7l6-1111117988902

Deaths offer chance to move on with life

• Matt Johnston
• Herald Sun
• November 10, 2008 12:00AM

  
JOHN Croxford was relieved to see the Bali bombers die after losing his wife Donna in the Sari Club explosion.

Left on his own to bring up daughter Breanna, who was born with acute learning difficulties, Mr Croxford said he supported the death penalty only in extreme cases.

He compared the bombers with "mongrel dogs".

"They didn't die as martyrs. It's just like taking something not very worthwhile and getting rid of it," he said.

"Anyone that harms children, I think they should be taken off the earth."

Breanna was four when Donna was killed, and Mr Croxford used to dread the days she would ask what happened to mum.

Now he hopes all the survivors and relatives can move on with their lives. "I just hope everyone can get rid of the anger and hate in themselves, myself included," Mr Croxford said.

"(The past few weeks) were basically like revisiting a nightmare, revisiting it over and over and over again, what we have in our mind that we are trying to shut out. It just kept getting in our faces."

Mr Croxford said the memory of his wife would live with him forever, and he hoped that no others would have to suffer his family's fate.

"I just hope there won't be any repercussions after the executions. There might be other idiots who want to go out there and do something now," he said.

"We just want to get on with it and have a fantastic life."

Former Adelaide magistrate Brian Deegan - who lost his son Josh and remains a staunch opponent of the death penalty - said he was full of trepidation about reprisal attacks.

"There's no shortage around the world of persons that are prepared to commit suicide to achieve a result," he said.

He continued to grieve for his son.

"The tears don't roll quite as often, that absolute gut ache has diminished a bit. But they don't go away."

Justice took far too long

• Sue Cooper
• From: Herald Sun
• November 10, 2008 12:00AM 

 

Craig Salvatori, left, Sue Cooper, Kathy Parris and Maria Kotronakis

  

THE bombers have been executed and my feeling is . . . at last.

And I'm still left wondering why have we family members had to wait so long for such a small shred of justice?

We have had to put up with a lot of rubbish, such as the bombers apparently wanting to choose their own method of execution as the firing squad could be painful to them. Good.

I hope they suffered pain as we, the families of those murdered, have to endure every day of our lives since that life-shattering event in 2002.

Our loved ones - like my brother Paul - did not choose to die, nor their method of death. We will never know what pain they suffered.

That's why the legal niceties and appeals left me so disgusted. I am sick of reading about people who did not want the bombers executed as it would turn them into martyrs.

In jail their families were allowed to visit, they were taken meals, they had computers, they wrote books for profit.

These beasts should have been kept in solitary confinement; no contact.

They should have been treated like the murdering scum that they were.

We live in the UK, but are fond of Melbourne - the place Paul lived and took out Australian citizenship.

I am always pleased to read in the Australian press that the victims and their families are being supported by the Australian Government.

That's not the case in Britain.

But how can politicians comment on whether murderers should receive the death sentence, when they have not suffered the pain of a loved one being murdered by a terrorist bomb?

They have no idea of what we suffer every day of our lives and how we have been so dramatically affected.

Lives and careers have been ruined by trauma. I call it a broken heart.

Paul's loving niece, Stephanie, was so busy helping out family and so preoccupied after the bombing that she was unable to complete her accountancy studies.

Paul went to Australia in 1989 to be manager of the Como Hotel in South Yarra. He loved it.

It was while working there that he became an Australian citizen and I can tell you he was extremely proud.

We were all proud of him, too.

He won the hotel the coveted 5 Star, Superior Deluxe award. He met and befriended stars including Tom Jones, Kylie and Dannii Minogue, Jackie Chan, Neil Diamond, Barry Humphries, Michael Jackson and Michael Crawford.

After managing at Mt Buller and in the Whitsundays, he came home to England for a while, and during that time our mum unexpectedly died.

He helped our dad Joe, now 85, and the rest of the family.

We could never imagine we'd lose Paul, too.

Later he managed two hotels in Kuta, Bali and employed 300 people.

We are still regularly in touch with many of Paul's staff. We try to visit Bali for the anniversaries, as it is where we feel close to Paul. His personal assistant, Ririn, has become a very much loved member of our family.

By helping the Balinese people, who have also suffered so much, we feel we can do some good.

But while those three killers enjoyed life, even in prison, it did no good for any of us who all consider ourselves victims of their atrocious cruelty.

They deserved their fate.

Sue Cooper's brother Paul Hussey, 46, died in the Bali bombing

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/justice-took-far-too-long/story-e6frfifo-1111117987196

To see two earlier posts, please click these two links:

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com.au/2010/03/families-of-victims-and-survivors-of.html

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/pro-death-penalty-quote-of-week-6-may.html