20 Years Later, Survivors Struggle with Effects of Bali Bombing

20 Years Later, Survivors² Struggle with Effects of Bali Bombing

The smell of smoke still makes Thiolina Marpaung afraid. It reminds her of the bomb explosion that changed her life 20 years ago.

Marpaung was in a car with her coworkers on the Indonesian island of Bali in 2002 when the explosion happened. She was temporarily blinded as pieces of glass went into her eyes. Now 48 years old, Marpaung remembers calling out for help and someone bringing her to a sidewalk before health workers arrived.

She is one of many Indonesian survivors who were outside of Sari Club on the night of October 12, 2002. That was when a car bombing and a suicide bombing at nearby Paddy's Pub killed 202 people. Most were foreign tourists, including 88 Australians and seven Americans.

Twenty years after the Bali bombings, efforts against terrorism in the world's most populous⁴ Muslim country remain active.

More than 2,300 people have been arrested on terrorism charges since a national counterterrorism unit was created after the attacks. That number comes from the Center for Radicalism⁵ and Deradicalization Studies.

Officials have continued to look for suspects even as the number of terrorist attacks in Indonesia has fallen. In 2020, 228 people were arrested on terrorism charges. The number rose to 370 last year.

But the effort has also raised concerns.

Sana Jaffrey is director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta. He said the public could start seeing "anti-terrorism as something of a political thing rather than a law enforcement effort."

The government is still going after suspects related to the Bali bombings.

In December 2020, police arrested 58-year-old Aris Sumarsono, better known as Zulkarnaen. The court sentenced him to 15 years in prison for his part in the attack.

But in August, Indonesia's government considered releasing the bombmaker in the Bali attack from prison early.

His name is Hisyam bin³ Alizein, better known as Umar Patek. Indonesian officials said Patek was an example of successful efforts to reform people found guilty of terrorism.

Ni Luh Erniati lost her husband in the Bali bombing. She met Patek at a prison last month. She has also met others who were tried and found guilty of terrorism. She said she believes the meetings can help her heal from the loss of her husband.

She told Patek that "because of that incident, I lost my true love, and I told him my life after that. He was crying, really crying," Erniati said.

Patek asked for her forgiveness, she said.

"I held his hand, I said, ‘Yes, I have forgiven you.' He was crying louder," Erniati said.

"I also told him, let's work together to protect our beloved country so that the same tragedies don't happen in the future," she added.

Erniati said the decision over his release is now up to the government. The government is considering whether to free him after he served half of his 20-year sentence.

Indonesia's Minister of Law and Human Rights said Patek has fulfilled all requirements for early prison release, also called parole. But the Australian government has expressed strong opposition⁶ to it.

Peter Hughes is a survivor¹ of the 2002 bombing from Australia. He has visited Bali more than 30 times in the past 20 years after overcoming his physical and mental trauma⁷.

Hughes spent a month in a coma⁸ after suffering burns to over half of his body in the Paddy's Pub explosions in Bali.

Hughes said he was not concerned that Patek could soon be released from prison.

"It doesn't worry me. I have no issue with it. The Indonesian judicial⁹ system is a little ... different to us, I guess," Hughes said.

Words in This Story

tourist –n. a person who travels to places for pleasure and enjoyment¹⁰

trauma — n. an experience that is damaging and that causes mental and emotional problems for a person

coma — n. a state in which an injured person is asleep and unconscious for a long time

1 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

4 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

5 radicalism   

n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义

参考例句：

• His radicalism and refusal to compromise isolated him. 他的激进主义与拒绝妥协使他受到孤立。
• Education produced intellectual ferment and the temptations of radicalism. 教育带来知识界的骚动，促使激进主义具有了吸引力。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

8 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

9 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

10 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。