Verdict due in Bali bombing trial

A tightly guarded Indonesian court today is expected to deliver its verdict in last year’s deadly nightclub bombings on the island of Bali, just days after a copycat blast ripped through a hotel in the capital Jakarta.

Amrozi bin Nurhasyim – dubbed the “smiling bomber” – is one of about three dozen alleged members of the al-Qaida-linked Southeast Asian extremist group, Jemaah Islamiyah, which is blamed for the October 12 blasts that killed 202 people including 26 Britons.

Dressed in traditional white Muslim attire, Amrozi kept his head down and refused to answer questions from reporters when he arrived at the court in a police armoured vehicle.

He faces a possible death sentence if convicted.

Tuesday’s blast at the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta killed at least 10 people and wounded nearly 150.

Indonesian authorities, as well as foreign governments also suspect Jemaah Islamiyah in that atrocity.

Like the Bali blast, a mobile phone was used to detonate a car bomb. The explosive material was also similar to that used in the Bali bombings, Indonesian investigators have said.

In both cases, soft targets frequented by foreigners were attacked and appeared aimed causing maximum casualties.

Amrozi, 41, has been called the smiling bomber because of his lack of remorse and jocular manner after his arrest last year. He is reported to have grinned and yelled out “Bomb!” when told of Tuesday’s explosion in Jakarta.

“Seeing Amrozi laugh and joke ... I just want the judges to let him rot,” said Australian Geoff Phillips, whose son Brad died in the Bali attacks.

Amrozi is among key suspects, including two of his brothers, who could face a firing squad if convicted.

While he did not take part in the actual attack, police say he purchased a van and explosives used in the car bomb that flattened the crowded Sari Club and nearby Paddy’s Bar.

Police say he signed a confession. But during his trial Amrozi said he had been forced to sign it.

Prosecutors allege the Bali strike was part of a campaign by Jemaah Islamiyah to set up a fundamentalist Islamic state across Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Scores of other alleged members have been arrested in the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia.