Prime Minister John Howard has welcomed the guilty verdict for Bali bomber Amrozi and says the government will not be making representations against the imposition of the death penalty.
Howard said recent events reminded Australians “that the fight against terrorism will be a long one”.
In relation to the death penalty, Howard said: “I respect the jurisdiction of the Indonesian court and I do not intend to make any representations that it not be carried out. If it’s the view of the Indonesian court that it be carried out, then it should be carried out.”
Transcript of Prime Minister John Howard’s Sydney press conference.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good evening. I’m sure that I speak for all Australians in welcoming the guilty verdict handed down by the court in Indonesia in relation to Amrozi’s role in the murder of 88 Australians amongst a total of 202 people at Bali in October last year. 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 that in some way justice has been done and at least one of the people responsible for what was described by one of the trial judges as a crime against humanity as well as a crime of murder, that in some way they have been properly brought to justice.