INDONESIAN COURT REJECTS BALI BOMBERS' REQUEST FOR BEHEADING

October 21, 2008: an Indonesian court rejected a request by the three convicted 'Bali bombers' to be executed by traditional Islamic-style beheading instead of by firing squad.
The chief judge of the Constitutional Court, Mohammad Mahfud, said the nine-member panel of judges unanimously rejected a legal appeal filed by the lawyers of the bombers that execution by firing squad is inhumane.
''There is no single method of execution that could not trigger pain. Every method of execution, if done in a wrong way, could lead to painful suffering. The pain caused by the execution is only a consequence of the punishment, not as a kind of torture,'' said Mahfud.
Amrozi Nurhasyim, Ali Gufron, and Imam Samudra have exhausted all legal procedures and are scheduled to be executed soon. (Sources: Kyodo, 21/10/2008)