'Don’t let bombers become martyrs' pleads victim's brother

Nov 10 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

THE BROTHER of a North East man killed in a terrorist attack said yesterday: “I only hope my brother’s killers will not become martyrs.”

Terrorists Imam Samudra, 38, Amrozi Nurhasyim, 47, and Ali Ghufron, 48, were executed on Saturday on the Indonesian island prison of Nusakambangan by a firing squad.

The men were found guilty of planning attacks on two nightclubs in the resort of Kuta on the holiday island of Bali, Indonesia, which killed 202 people including Ian Findley, 55, from Pelton, Chester-le-Street, and Clive Walton, 34, from Sunderland.

Yesterday Mr Findley’s brother Brian, 59, also from Chester-le-Street, said: “I am pleased these terrorists were shot dead by a firing squad and not beheaded.

“I understand that if they had been beheaded it would have been more likely to have turned them into martyrs. By shooting them hopefully that will not happen.

“They weren’t the ringleaders, but they were among those responsible for my brother’s death and I am pleased they have been executed. I had to fly to Bali to visit the morgue and to bring back the remains of my brother, which is something you don’t get over.”

Mr Findley’s mother Loraine, 87, of Grange Villa, Chester-le-Street, said: “Executing these killers will not bring my son back.

“Each day is difficult for us as we think about Ian all of the time. But at least I know those three aren’t living the life of Riley in a cushy jail.”

The bombings took place in two crowded nightclubs and killed 202 people – mostly tourists.

Mr Findley was travelling with County Durham friends Ian Stafford and Kevin McVittie, who both survived. He was on the last night of a holiday when they were caught up in the attack getting out of a taxi.

Mr Walton, son of Sunderland councillors Jack and Lilian Walton, was touring Bali with a Hong Kong rugby club when the bombs went off. More than 30 members of the al Qaida-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah have been convicted by an Indonesian court of carrying out the bombings.

Tobias Ellwood MP, who lost his brother Jonathan, 37, in the attacks said he was unable to draw a line under the Bombings until three fundamental questions were answered.

He said: “Firstly, the ring leader behind the Bali bombings, Hambali, dubbed by the CIA as the “Osama Bin Laden” and the operations chief for the militant group Jemaah Islamiah, was arrested by Thai authorities in 2003 and handed over to the US.

“He has never been put on trial for masterminding the Bali bombings and no one will explain why.

“Secondly, British citizens affected by the Bali terrorist attack received no compensation from the British Government. It remains the case that there is no compensation scheme available to Britons affected by overseas terrorism, even though the UK paid compensation to all the injured regardless of nationality following the London 7/7 bombings.

“Many countries including the US, Spain, France, Italy and Australia have updated their laws to ensure their respective citizens are protected.

“Thirdly, intelligence received by MI5 prior to the Bali bombing warned of an attack on the island.

“The threat level to British citizens should have been raised to ‘high’, a point confirmed by the Intelligence and Security Committee chaired by the Rt Hon Anne Taylor MP and presented to Parliament in December 2003.

“Failure to update the threat level meant many travel plans, including my brother’s, went unchanged.”

The three men were executed just before 5pm Saturday several miles from their high security prison.

Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director, warned: “The executions of the Bali bombers may create martyrs whose memory risks increasing support and recruitment to their cause.”