THE BRIMOB FIRNG SQUAD (THE EXECUTION OF THE BALI BOMBERS ON 9 NOVEMBER 2008) [THE WEAPON OF THE FORTNIGHT ~ SUNDAY NOVEMBER 3, 2013 TO SATURDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2013]

On this date, 9 November 2008, the Amrozi A.K.A the Smiling Assassin was executed together with Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron Mukhlas by firing squad in Nusa Kambangan Island, Indonesia. They were involved in the 2002 Bail Bombings.

I chose the Brimob firing Squad as the weapon of the fortnight to remember the day I changed from an opponent to a supporter of the death penalty.

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/bombers-in-their-sights/story-e6freooo-1111117892797

Single men only in Bali bomber firing squad

Cindy Wockner
The Courier-Mail
October 29, 2008 11:00PM

TRAINING ... target shooting by Brimob paramilitary police who will make up the firing squads to execute the Bali bombers Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra.Source: The Courier-Mail

THE men chosen to form the firing squad for the Bali bombers will be single with no children, and will have passed psychological and health checks.

They will also be good shots with a rifle - most probably an SS1 and using 5.5mm bullets.

They will have practised on police firing ranges shooting at targets. And they will not generally say no when assigned to form a firing squad.

Three squads of 12 shooters each, plus a commander and senior member, will be chosen soon to shoot Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, possibly as early as this weekend.

The squads will be chosen from the Brimob, or the Brigadier Mobile brigade 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.

This week when The Courier-Mail visited the Brimob headquarters in Semarang, members of Brimob were engaged in their regular shooting and target practice on their firing range.

They aimed and fired at targets including life-size cut-outs of a human figures and circles.

Initially they fired from 100m away, then moved in to 75m and 50m. They fired from standing and kneeling positions and practised tactical moves.

As shooting and target practice is part of their normal routine, commanders say they don't need to do anything special in order to qualify for a firing squad because all can shoot well.

Every member of Brimob is subjected to regular written and oral psychological tests and to medicals to ensure they are mentally up to the job. And this includes those in firing squads.

Sources say that when it comes to a firing squad the commander prefers to choose single men with no children to lessen potential psychological problems for those who might be uneasy about taking the life of a fellow human being.

The Brimob chief in Central Java, Commissioner Wahyudi Hidayat, said there were 11 divisions of Brimob in Central Java, consisting of 170 members each and that the Bali bomber firing squads would be chosen from those 1870 members. He said the 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 for the firing squad because everybody must be trained to do it. We just do normal basic Brimob training and we have shooting training almost every day."

Of the 12 shooters, only three have live bullets in their weapons - the other nine have blanks - and to salve consciences no one is meant to know who has the lives and who has the blanks. The guns are laid out on the ground and members are told to choose one shortly before execution hour.

Under legislation, if the prisoner does not die immediately from the firing squad, the commander fires an "amnesty shot" to the head with a revolver.