Author: Cindy Wockner in Bali
Publication: The Advertiser Newspapers
Date: May 27, 2003
URL: http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6499662^912,00.html
Alleged Bali bomber Amrozi laid
bare his ideology for all to see yesterday.
For four hours in a Denpasar Court
he was unmoved by the plight of Hindu and Christian victims of his terror
campaign, telling the court impassively that he understood their moving
testimony but had no idea whether it was true or false.
It was only when a fellow Muslim
victim testified that Amrozi displayed any compassion, telling the court
he felt sympathy toward him.
"I understand the statement of the
witness and feel sympathy for his suffering. I hope he can recover soon,"
Amrozi said.
The recipient of his good wishes,
Gatut Suranto, was among nine local victims called to testify yesterday
at Amrozi's terrorism trial, and one of only two Muslims.
However, Amrozi displayed no sympathy
for the female Muslim victim Tumini, who had been in Paddy's Bar with friends
and is badly scarred, wearing a pressure bandage on her arm to court.
"The statement is good, I understand.
Is it true or not, I don't know," Amrozi responded nonchalantly after Tumini's
evidence, showing no reaction toward her testimony that she feels no need
for revenge against him.
Johan Duka, 25, a security guard
at the Aloha surf shop, was badly injured and his brother, a security guard
at the Sari Club, was killed.
A Protestant, Johan told the court,
in response to a question from the judge about whether he had ever met
Amrozi: "I don't know him but Jesus Christ does."
He was the most animated and angry
of the witnesses, displaying deep discomfort at having to detail his horrific
injuries to his genital area in front of a crowd of undercover officers
who made fun of his predicament.
After his uncomfortable testimony,
when he asked Chief Judge I. Made Karna to stop the crowd laughter, Johan
asked the judge if he could shake Amrozi's hand.
The judge refused and instead Johan
waved at his brother's alleged killer. A smile on his face, Amrozi waved
back.
Outside the court, Johan said his
request for a handshake was not in anger or as a way of getting close enough
to attack Amrozi.
It was instead an amazing gesture
of forgiveness from a man who lost his brother and his own pride to a man
accused of murdering 202 innocent lives. "I wanted to shake Amrozi's hand,
it is honest and sincere, from my heart," he said. "There is no hate. There
is no hatred.
"Jesus teaches me to have mercy
on the enemy. Protestants teach us to forgive everyone. I pity him because
what he considers is true is not true."
For the first day of witness evidence,
prosecutors chose nine victims, from varying religions and walks of life,
to depict the devastation wrought by Amrozi and his alleged co-conspirators.
There was a waitress and cashier
from the Sari Club, a man and his nephew injured while riding a motorcycle
down the crowded street outside Paddy's Bar, another two men who narrowly
escaped their exploding vehicle and some who were in the bar when the bomb
exploded.
Amrozi's trial resumes tomorrow
when another 15 witnesses will testify.
