Bali bombers defend blasts in TV film

Three militants on death row for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings defended the blasts in a government-backed TV documentary aimed at blunting support for extremist Islam in Indonesia.

The bombers were only given a few minutes of camera time between them – and their views were then rebuffed at length by respected Muslim clerics, who argued that terrorism had no place in Islam.

“If we are hit, then we hit back,” said Imam Samudra, one of the ringleaders in the blasts that killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists, including Britons.

“In any struggle, there are victims,” he said.

The film is part of an increasingly vocal campaign in Indonesia against hardline Islam triggered by a second set of suicide bombings on Bali last month that killed 20 people.

Victims of the 2002 blasts and the sole bomber who has expressed remorse were also interviewed at length in the documentary, shown on prime-time Saturday evening on Metro TV channel.

“What I did in Bali was wrong,” said Ali Imron, who was given a life sentence, not death, because of his apparent remorse and cooperation with investigators. “Don’t follow in my footsteps. Believe me I know, because I have experienced it.”

More than 30 militants with ties to the al Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network have been convicted in the blasts on the resort island. Three were sentenced to death, the rest received sentences of between two years and life.

Samudra, who appeared with his head covered by a sarong, said he believed the blasts were a “balanced” response to the alleged atrocities inflicted on the Muslim world by the West.

Ali Gufron, a second militant sentenced to death, said he ”was truly proud to be called a terrorist”.

“Jihad is the best way to receive blessing in Islam,” he said.

The men made similar statements during their trial or in comments shouted to reporters. Samudra has written a book in which he justifies the blasts.

The government granted special permission for Metro TV to interview the men in prison for the film, entitled ”Between Black and White”, according to the credits.

The more robust campaign against extremism in Indonesia following last month’s blasts was triggered in part because a video of the suicide bombers justifying the attacks was unearthed in a militant safehouse and shown on TV repeatedly.

Hard-line groups who liked to peddle conspiracy theories claiming US or Israeli involvement in terror bombings in Indonesia to justify a crackdown on Islam have been given little space in the country’s media following the bombings.