Bali bombers lodge appeals

Three men convicted over the October 2002 Bali bombings have lodged appeals against their death sentences.

The Australian reports the office of the Attorney-General confirmed the men's legal team had applied for judicial review of their sentences.

Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas (also known as Ali Ghufron) were convicted in 2003 for the bombings in Kuta, Bali, which killed 202 people.

Wirawan Adnan, a member of their legal team, said the appeals would include the argument they should not have been convicted under anti-terrorism legislation which was passed after the bombings.

"They should not have been allowed to use the retroactive legislation, and the Supreme Court has made a ruling on this. There are some other points that we will present, but this is the strong point," Mr Adnan told The Australian.

The newspaper report said three separate panels of judges would hear the appeals in Denpasar District Court, after which the findings would be submitted to the Supreme Court in Jakarta. It said a date for the hearings had not yet been set.

The appeals came after a drawn-out game of tactics between their lawyers and Indonesia's Attorney-General Abdul Rahman Saleh.

On Wednesday, the Attorney-General told Reuters he would proceed with the execution process if the men hadn't filed their appeals by the end of the month.

"It is proper enough for the attorney-general's office to wait until the end of this month on whether they would file for a judicial review. If they don't file, the process will go forward," he said.

Related stories:
Execution delay for Bali bombers -- 21 August 2006
Bali bombers closer to execution -- 11 April 2006