Bali families oppose executions

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The families of British victims of the 2002 Bali bombings have spoken out against the imminent executions of three of those convicted over the plot.

Susanna Miller, of the Bali Bombing Victims' Group, said the executions may provide propaganda for jihadists.

Ms Miller, whose brother was killed, told BBC Radio 4 execution would offer a "state-sponsored route to martyrdom".

Indonesia officials say Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and Ali Mukhlas (Ghufron) will be shot dead this month.

The men were sentenced to death five years ago for their role in bomb attacks in the tourist bars of Bali which killed 202 people, including 28 Britons.

They have often said they welcomed death, while filing numerous appeals.

Ms Miller, whose brother Dan was killed, told the BBC: "Capital punishment for jihadist terrorism seems particularly anomalous to me. It effectively provides a state-sponsored route to martyrdom.

It would be such a tragedy if it just served to fuel the jihadist cause Susanna Miller "There are two strands to justice: one is to punish the deed and the other is to deter subsequent deeds.

"If, in trying to do justice to my brother and the others that died, they carry out a punishment that actually can be used as a propaganda coup to encourage the very people who carried out the act, I think that makes a mockery of the whole idea of justice.

"Having gone through the suffering that I have seen so much of over Bali, it would be such a tragedy if it just served to fuel the jihadist cause."

Ms Miller said her concerns were shared by a large number of relatives of victims of the bombings and that she had raised the issue with the Indonesian authorities.

Protest fears

About 30 people have been convicted in Indonesia for taking part in the bombings.

Ms Miller said the three men due to be executed were only "secondary" participants.

The man thought to be the mastermind of the attack is being held by US authorities in Guantanamo Bay.

The three convicted men have expressed the hope that their execution will provoke revenge attacks.

Although sympathy for the bombers is low across Indonesia, officials are concerned that the executions of men claiming an Islamic mandate for their deeds could spark protests.