By William Walker
A court in Indonesia handed out its verdict of Umar Patek; convicted member of militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah (the “Islamic Convention”) who helped build explosives that killed more than 200 club-goers in Bali ten years ago. Captured in Pakistan last year and then extradited to Indonesia his trial has been closely watched both by the world’s largest Islamic population and by many in the West who see Indonesia as a model example of how Islam and Western ideology can peacefully co-exist.
The bombings, which occurred when a suicide bomber detonated a device inside the packed Paddy’s Pub in Kuta, forcing the crowd outside where a much larger car bomb was detonated opposite the club are considered Indonesia’s most deadly terrorist attack, with the number of fatalities listed as 202, together with 240 injuries.
Some of the accused have already received convictions: 3 of whom were executed by firing squad in 2008 and another suspect believed to have been involved in the car bomb explosion, also nicknamed “The Genius”, was killed in a police shoot-out in 2010. Umar Patek is the last suspect to be charged.
The trial of 45-year old Patek, also known as “demolition man” was guarded by more than 240 police, including snipers seen on buildings close to the court in Jakarta. Patek admitted his part in manufacturing the explosives, but denied his involvement in targeting tourists at the Bali nightclub. The prosecution successfully pressed for life imprisonment for a charge that potentially carried a sentence of death by firing squd.
Indonesia is often rocked by unrest from militant fundamentalist groups but this has lessened in recent years as police have cracked down and membership of these organisations has begun to dwindle. As one of the darkest chapters in Indonesia’s recent history comes to a close many hope that the religious harmony that has been achieved here can continue to set an example for some of the more unstable regions of the world.
