Cindy Wockner in Semarang, Java
October 30, 2008 12:00am
THE men who will form the firing squad that takes aim at the Bali bombers' hearts will be single and healthy and will have passed regular psychological checks.
They will also be good shots with a rifle -- most probably an SS1, using 5.5mm bullets.
This week they practised on police firing ranges shooting at life-sized cut-out targets of men as well as circles.
Three squads of 12 marksmen, plus a commander and a senior member, will soon be chosen to shoot Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, possibly this weekend.
They will be executed on Nusa Kambangan Island, near the town of Cilacap.
Almost 1000 police are on standby in Central Java to deal with potential trouble.
Police were conducting road blocks and ID and vehicle checks of cars coming and going from Cilacap.
The firing squads will be chosen from Brimob -- the Brigadier Mobile Brigade -- part of the paramilitary police in the Central Java region, closest to where the executions will take place.
The headquarters of the Central Java region is the city of Semarang, about six hours' drive from the execution site.
Members of Brimob were conducting their regular shooting and target practice this week. At first they fired from 100m, then moved to 75m and 50m. They fired standing and kneeling.
As target practice is part of their normal routine, commanders say they don't need to do anything special to qualify for a firing squad, because everyone in the squad can shoot well.
Brimob's Central Java chief, Commissioner Wahyudi Hidayat, said the firing squads would be chosen from 1870 candidates.
Commanders knew their members well and would choose the squads.
"All of Brimob has been trained to do jobs like the firing squad," he said. "We don't have any specific team . . . because everybody must be trained to do it.
"We just do normal basic Brimob training and we have shooting training almost every day."
Brimob's national commander, Insp Gen Sylvanus Yulian Wenas, said no one ever refused firing squad duty unless they were ill. Squads were chosen at the last minute. He laughed at the suggestion they would need special training.
"If it's only for shooting Amrozi, why do we need to practise? Every person in the squad can do it," he said.
Of the 12 shooters in each squad, only three have live bullets in their weapons -- so no one knows who fires the fatal shot.
Firing squad members aim at reflectors pinned over a prisoner's heart.
Should a prisoner survive, the commander has an "amnesty shot" to the head with a revolver.
In practice this has not happened in any recent execution in Indonesia.
October 30, 2008 12:00am
THE men who will form the firing squad that takes aim at the Bali bombers' hearts will be single and healthy and will have passed regular psychological checks.
They will also be good shots with a rifle -- most probably an SS1, using 5.5mm bullets.
This week they practised on police firing ranges shooting at life-sized cut-out targets of men as well as circles.
Three squads of 12 marksmen, plus a commander and a senior member, will soon be chosen to shoot Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, possibly this weekend.
They will be executed on Nusa Kambangan Island, near the town of Cilacap.
Almost 1000 police are on standby in Central Java to deal with potential trouble.
Police were conducting road blocks and ID and vehicle checks of cars coming and going from Cilacap.
The firing squads will be chosen from Brimob -- the Brigadier Mobile Brigade -- part of the paramilitary police in the Central Java region, closest to where the executions will take place.
The headquarters of the Central Java region is the city of Semarang, about six hours' drive from the execution site.
Members of Brimob were conducting their regular shooting and target practice this week. At first they fired from 100m, then moved to 75m and 50m. They fired standing and kneeling.
As target practice is part of their normal routine, commanders say they don't need to do anything special to qualify for a firing squad, because everyone in the squad can shoot well.
Brimob's Central Java chief, Commissioner Wahyudi Hidayat, said the firing squads would be chosen from 1870 candidates.
Commanders knew their members well and would choose the squads.
"All of Brimob has been trained to do jobs like the firing squad," he said. "We don't have any specific team . . . because everybody must be trained to do it.
"We just do normal basic Brimob training and we have shooting training almost every day."
Brimob's national commander, Insp Gen Sylvanus Yulian Wenas, said no one ever refused firing squad duty unless they were ill. Squads were chosen at the last minute. He laughed at the suggestion they would need special training.
"If it's only for shooting Amrozi, why do we need to practise? Every person in the squad can do it," he said.
Of the 12 shooters in each squad, only three have live bullets in their weapons -- so no one knows who fires the fatal shot.
Firing squad members aim at reflectors pinned over a prisoner's heart.
Should a prisoner survive, the commander has an "amnesty shot" to the head with a revolver.
In practice this has not happened in any recent execution in Indonesia.
Source: Herald Sun
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