Australian PM welcomes Bali guilty verdict

Australian Prime Minister John Howard welcomed today’s guilty verdict against a key figure in the Bali nightclub bombings.

“Most of all I hope that this verdict provides some sense of comfort to those who lost their loved ones in this tragedy and that they feel in some way that justice has been done,” he said.

He said his government – which normally opposes death sentences – would not make “any representations to the government of Indonesia that that penalty not be carried out”.

The resort island was a popular tourist destination for Australians, and the country lost 88 citizens in the bombings. Many said it was “Australia’s 9/11”.