A VICTIM of the deadly 2002 Bali terror bombings says the sooner the killers are executed the better.
Speaking on the sixth anniversary of the attacks yesterday, Cairns wine agent Brendan Barry, whose best friend Jodie Cearns was one of 88 Australians who lost their lives, said he no longer thought the bombers should "rot in jail" for life.
"The sooner they're not here the sooner we will all be able to move on from this," Mr Barry said.
"It's such an emotional roller-coaster ride in the newspapers and we need to get it over with so it's another chapter closed."
The issue has been hotly debated in recent weeks as the execution of the bombers draws closer.
Three of the convicted killers, Amrozi, his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, face death by machine gun for their role in the attacks, which Indonesian authorities have said will occur by year's end.
But earlier this month, when the trio was allowed to leave their cells to mark an Islamic holiday, Mukhlas sparked more outrage when he told a reporter that executing them would be the "biggest criminal act because they will be killing holy warriors".
Mr Barry, 42, who suffered collapsed lungs, a cracked skull, shrapnel wounds, second degree burns and a massive gash to his left arm when the car bomb exploded outside the Sari Club, said he would never forget but he also wanted to move on.
"I used to think that they should spend the rest of their days in jail so they could walk a while in our shoes and know what they did to us, but I've changed my perspective," he said.
"Maybe I've matured a bit, I don't know, but it's not good to have it dragging on."
He said the lead-up to the painful anniversary was always the hardest part, and bittersweet too, because it coincided with his birthday on October 9. "That was the reason why I was in Bali in the first place," Mr Barry said.
