The Age [Australia], November 15 2002
'Why didn't one of those Indonesian coppers punch the suspect
in his face?'
By Farah Farouque, Melissa Fyfe
Dave "Spike" Stewart's first reaction when he heard the chief suspect in the Bali
bombings laughed and smiled with Indonesia's police chief is unprintable
The grieving father collects himself, then asks angrily: "Why didn't one of those
Indonesian coppers punch the suspect in his face to stop him laughing?"
Mr Stewart's son, Anthony, was last seen alive on the dancefloor of the Sari Club on
October 12. More than a month after the bomb blast, his son's body has not been
identified.
This week, Mr Stewart and his wife, Marilyn, returned to the scene of the crime. They
are in Bali at the invitation of the Indonesian Government to take part in a memorial
with the other families and friends of Australian victims.
This dad from Werribee is distraught that anyone could laugh about the attacks that
claimed his son's life.
Had Anthony lived, he would have celebrated his 30th birthday two weeks ago. But Mr
Stewart has also come to understand that cultural difference might be a factor in how
Indonesians react to these events.
"When I've told Indonesians that I lost my son at the Sari Club, they have laughed
initially," says Mr Stewart.
"Then about 30 seconds later it registers and they tell me how very, very sorry they
are."
Anthony Cachia, 32, a chef from Reservoir, also perished that night in Bali.
His uncle, John Wills, found the scenes from chief suspect Amrozi's arrest as relayed
by television and newspapers "bizarre".
It was almost like a comedy scene, he said.
"I find the whole thing quite offensive, really," he said. "The circumstances are still
very surreal. This stuff just adds fuel to the fire. I don't know what could be in their
minds."
Mr Wills concedes the smiles on the faces of the police could be a cultural difference
- but he does not want to see those imaages in his living room in Melbourne. "We don't
need to see it at all," he said. "It was just ridiculous."
Aleisha Desmond, the best friend of bomb victims Jessica O'Donnell and Rebecca
Cartledge, also found the scenes provocative.
"It was pathetic, the way he was laughing," she said. Ms Desmond arrived in Bali
yesterday for the memorial.
Amid his grief, Craig Salvatori, the former rugby league international whose wife Kathy
was killed in the attack, is trying to be sanguine about it all.
"If I dwell on it, I'll be stuck in a bloody rage for years," he said.
"If I worried about it, all it would mean is they (the terrorists) would be getting to me,
they'd be be on top of me, so I don't even want to know about it."
Copyright © 2002 The Age Company Ltd
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