Amrozi, who on Monday became the first suspect to face trial over the Bali blasts, is a village mechanic who has been dubbed the ”laughing bomber” for his apparent indifference to the slaughter.
He has been described by Indonesian police as a mischievous youth who fell under the influence of hardline Islamic preachers.
Police say his aim in joining a plot by the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group was to kill as many Americans as possible because of what he saw as US oppression of Muslims worldwide.
His only regret, they say, is that Australians and not Americans were the main victims when a huge explosion and fire ripped through the Sari Club last October 12. A smaller bomb had exploded in Paddy’s Bar 29 seconds earlier.
A total of 202 people, 88 of them Australian, died in the blasts.
Outraged Australian media dubbed Amrozi the ”laughing bomber” when he was filmed giggling and joking during an interview last November with Indonesian police chief Da’i Bachtiar.
Amrozi (40) is accused of procuring the van used to carry the Sari Club bomb, driving it to Bali, and purchasing one ton of chemicals used to make the explosive.
”What I did was only shopping,” Amrozi has told reporters. He may face death by firing squad if convicted.
Police traced a van used in the bombing to Amrozi and he was arrested on November 5 at his parents’ home in the village of Tenggulun in East Java, where he ran a motorcycle repair and cellphone business. It was the first break in a huge multinational investigation.
Amrozi was born in the village, the fifth of 13 children. Media and police reports describe him as a handsome man who enjoyed racing his motorbike and flirting with girls.
He revered an elder brother Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, who will also face trial as the alleged controller of the Bali attacks.
Mukhlas and another brother Ali Imron — also a Bali suspect — left Tenggulun to study at a religious school at Ngruki, near the Central Java city of Solo. The school was established by Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged leader of JI.
Mukhlas left for Malaysia in the mid-1980s and around 1992 Amrozi himself departed the village to seek out his brother. Amrozi tracked his brother down in the town of Ulu Tiram in Johor and began attending Koran classes given by Bashir.
When Amrozi returned to Indonesia sometime around 1995, neighbours say he was a changed man — devout and serious.
In 2000 Amrozi allegedly met Imam Samudra, another key Bali suspect, in Solo. Samudra asked him to make bombs that were sent to Ambon island, the scene of Muslim-Christian clashes at the time.
Following their face-to-face meetings, they communicated by SMS phone messages.
When the plan was made to bomb Bali, Amrozi was tasked with buying the van and the chemicals. He was at home in East Java when the bombs went off.
”He felt very happy that the bomb successfully exploded in Bali,” police chief Bachtiar has said.
Chief Bali investigator I Made Mangku Pastika said last November that Amrozi hated Americans and wanted to ”kill as many Americans as possible.”
”He did it because (he says) America oppresses the Muslims and he wants revenge.”
The United States had attacked Iraq and Afghanistan and was partial towards Israel in the conflict with the Palestinians, Amrozi believed.
Pastika said Amrozi was ”one of the men who learned about jihad (holy war or struggle) from Bashir.”
The investigator said Amrozi had told police ”they were not very happy because Australians were killed” instead of Americans. – Sapa-AFP