A lawyer for three death row Bali bombers walked out of court today, leaving judges to send their final appeal to a higher court without hearing evidence the trio had hoped would save them.
The so-called "smiling assassin" Amrozi, his brother Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, and Imam Samudra are fighting to escape the firing squad.
They were sentenced to death over their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings in Bali's popular Kuta tourist district which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
But their last-ditch appeal hearings ended abruptly today when their lawyer walked out of proceedings in Bali's Denpasar District Court.
Defence lawyer Fahmi Bachmid walked out after he clashed with judges over a bid to move the hearings from Denpasar to Cilacap in central Java, where the trio are imprisoned.
It meant Bachmid did not get the chance to submit arguments that the bombers had hoped would save them from the firing squad.
The arguments related to a 2004 Constitutional Court ruling that found the law used to charge the men was retroactive, and thus unconstitutional.
But prosecutors, in their written response submitted to the court today, said the same argument had been submitted in earlier proceedings and rejected.
The district court judges said they would now send their recommendations on the appeal to the Supreme Court, which can either dismiss it, reduce or reaffirm the mens' sentences, or return the matter to the district court for a fresh trial.
Feeds