By Mark Forbes Herald Correspondent in Jakarta
IN A bizarre long-distance ceremony, a condemned Bali bomber has remarried by proxy in an apparent attempt to generate publicity and public sympathy.
Suggestions by Amrozi's lawyers that the radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir would preside over the so-called smiling assassin taking a second wife inside Central Java's Batu Prison proved false.
Officials from the Attorney-General's department refused permission for the ceremony, which was promoted as a media event by Amrozi's lawyers.
Claims the marriage would allow Amrozi to father a new heir were also scotched by prison officials, who pointed out they did not allow conjugal visits. Amrozi is on death row at the island prison, along with fellow bombers Imam Samudra and Mukhlas.
Amrozi's wedding took place in the village of Solokuro in East Java, at the home of his new bride, Siti Rahma. It is believed his current wife attended the ceremony.
Strangely both Amrozi and Mrs Rahma were represented by family proxies during the service.
The lawyer Fachmi Bachmid said Amrozi was represented by his younger brother, Ali Fauzi.
The bride was Amrozi's first wife, who he divorced in 1987. The pair married in 1985 and had a child, but split supposedly because of Amrozi's wild ways. He subsequently married his present wife who regularly visits him in jail with their young daughter.
■ Prosecutors have dropped premeditated murder charges against an Indonesian man over the killing of the Australian Heidi Murphy in Bali. Instead of facing the death penalty, Achmad Fahrul Rozi could be jailed for life on the lesser charge of intentionally killing during a crime.
He has admitted to killing the 34-year-old after she woke while he was stealing a laptop from her bedroom. Ms Murphy, a clothing designer, was stabbed 37 times.
© 2007 The Sydney Morning Herald
