VANCOUVER (CBC) - The father of an Australian man killed in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings made an appeal to Indonesian authorities Friday to spare three militants convicted of carrying out the attacks, saying "only harm" would come from their execution.

Brian Deegan, whose son Joshua was among the 202 people killed in the blasts on the resort island, wrote in an open letter to the country's authorities that he and his son were always opposed to the death penalty.

"Nothing will return my son to me, to his mother, his family and his friends," Deegan wrote. "But the execution of a selected few who were responsible for his death and the death and maiming of hundreds more will not cure the pain."

The three men have shown no remorse and maintain their acts - which killed mostly foreign tourists, including 32 Australians and two Canadians, were sanctioned under Islam as revenge for Muslim deaths in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Deegan urged that the death penalty be commuted to life imprisonment, writing that killing the three men risked turning them into martyrs.

"I see that no good will come from their execution. I see only harm," he wrote. "I will not beg for their lives to be spared. But I seek that which I consider more appropriate. A penalty which will serve as a constant reminder to others. A penalty which will not destroy the lives of their families."

Authorities have convicted more than 30 Islamic militants in the blasts, three of whom are on death row.

Executions expected within a month: lawyers

Deegan's letter was released with his permission by the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, a regional group that campaigns against state executions.

It came a day after an Indonesian court announced it had rejected a final appeal by the three militants, bringing their executions closer. They can still appeal to the president for clemency, but have said they will not do so.

Their lawyers have vowed to fight the sentences to the end, but said they expected their clients to be put to death within a month.

The Bali attacks were carried out by members and associates of Jemaah Islamiyah, a local network of mostly Afghan trained militants, with al-Qaeda providing money and some expertise, police and former militants have said.

With files from the Associated Press

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