Protesters storm Bali jail on anniversary

13 Oct, 2005

Protesters stormed an Indonesian jail on Wednesday where many bombers behind the 2002 Bali night-club blasts are incarcerated, just hours after sombre ceremonies to mark the third anniversary of the atrocity.
Frustration boiled over at Kerobokan prison, where 500 Balinese demanding immediate execution of three militants on death row for the bombings that killed 202 people destroyed part of the outer wall and knocked down a steel door into the jail.
Wearing traditional Balinese headbands and sarongs, the protesters shouted "Kill Amrozi! Kill! Kill! Kill!" and "We have been waiting for three years."
Citing security concerns amid rising public anger, especially after fresh suicide bombings on October 1, which killed 20 people, authorities had moved the three inmates on Tuesday to a penal island off Java. But a number of other convicted bombers are still in the jail on the famous resort island.
Riot police blocked the entrance to the prisoners' cells and later pushed the protesters out.
The three death row militants are Imam Samudra, Amrozi and his brother Mukhlas, also known as Ali Gufron.
About 400 Indonesians and foreigners paid their respects at a monument near Kuta Beach, where the names of the 202 dead are etched in stone near the two night-clubs that Islamic militants linked to al Qaeda blew up three years ago.
Amid tight security, family members placed flowers at the base of the granite memorial. Some wept.

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