Ali Ghufron is escorted into court in Bali, October 2003

INDONESIA. 'BALI BOMBERS' DEATH SENTENCE APPEAL DROPPED

March 24, 2008: Islamic militants in Indonesia facing death over the 2002 Bali bombings are one step closer to the firing squad after a last-ditch appeal was dropped, reports said.
"The case was withdrawn by the ones that requested it and the prosecutors did not object, this means it is over. There are no further courts (of appeal)," the head of the panel of judges hearing the case Ida Bagus Putu Madeg was quoted as saying by news website Detikcom.
A lawyer for the bombers, Fachmi Bachmid, told AFP he withdrew from the judicial review at the Denpasar district court because a request to bring his three clients, Amrozi, Ali Ghufron and Imam Samudra, to appear in person at the appeal had been rejected by the court.
"The rights of our clients have been amputated. It is clearly stated in the letter from the Supreme Court that my clients and the prosecutors need to be present (in court for the appeal)," Bachmid said.
The review is the last avenue to stop the executions of the three short of an unlikely clemency from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. (Sources: Khaleej Times, 24/03/2008)