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Court Decides to Sentence Bali Bomber to Death (JANE PERLEZ, 8/08/03, NY Times)

Indonesian and American officials have said Jemaah Islamiyah was probably responsible for the car-bombing of the J. W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday that killed 16 people and wounded more than 150. There was some speculation among officials that the attack had been timed as a warning to the Indonesian government on the eve of the verdict, the first in the Bali case.

The verdict read to the court by the chief judge, I Made Karna, described the Bali attack as an "extraordinary crime" and a "crime against humanity."

Immediately after the verdict, Amrozi, who has smiled at many of his court appearances, swiveled in his chair to face the crowded courtroom. He flashed a wide toothy grin and stretched out both arms with a thumbs-up gesture. In brief interviews during the trial that began in mid-May, Amrozi had said he wanted to be a martyr, and he mounted little defense during the trial.

After the sentencing a lawyer for Amrozi said the defendant apologized to those who were not intended as targets. "He doesn't have anything personal against the Australians, for instance," the lawyer, Wirawan Adnan, said. "The targets were the Americans and the Jews."

Wow, Americans really are the new Jews, huh? Posted by Orrin Judd at August 8, 2003 12:28 PM