Indonesia's constitutional court has rejected an appeal by the three Bali nightclub bombers against their execution by firing squad.
More than 200 people died in the October 2002 Bali nighclub bombings
The ruling is thought to overcome the final hurdle before carrying out the death sentences aganst the three men convicted over the 2002 attacks.
The three bombers - Mukhlas, Amrozi and Imam Samudra - had been sentenced to death by firing squad, but their lawyers argued the method constituted torture and that beheading was a more humane sentence.
That was rejected by the court, which said the reasons given were "baseless".
"The pain generated by a firing squad is a natural effect, and it's not torture," court chairman Mohammad Mahfud MD told reporters.
The case was presented to Indonesia's constitutional court when the three men were about to be executed shortly before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Mohammad Mahfud MD,
court chairman
The bombers also said that according to Islamic law beheading would be the right method of execution.
Another more "humane" method would be a lethal injection, they argued.
More than 200 people died in the Bali nightclub bombings, many of them foreign tourists.
As a result the case and the fate of the bombers has attracted intense international interest.
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Indonesia's attorney general has said he will give more details about the time of execution this coming Friday, with analysts saying the execution could follow within days.
The executions, considered a politically highly sensitive issue in Indonesia, have been delayed on several occasions without clear reasons.
Indonesian police are reported to have planned a massive security operation to handle any violence that follows the executions.
Most executions in Indonesia are carried out by firing squad at undisclosed locations late at night.
Tags: Bali Indonesia