JAKARTA, August 14, 2008 (AFP) - Lawyers for the three Bali bombers on death row in Indonesia argued in court Thursday against the use of firing squads, saying they amounted to torture and demanding a stay in the executions.

Indonesia's constitutional court opened hearings into the Islamists' latest bid to stave off their executions by firing squad over the 2002 attacks on the resort island of Bali which killed 202 people, mainly foreign tourists.

Defence lawyer Mahendradata said the court had to order a stay of execution while the petition was being heard.

'Do you think that a dead man's plea can still be reviewed by a court? It is unconstitutional,' he told the judges.

The attorney general's office has said it hopes to execute the Islamist militants, convicted in 2003, before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in early September.

The men -- Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron -- are being held in an island prison off Java. They have asked to be beheaded instead of shot and claim they are eager to die as 'martyrs' for their Islamist cause.

Officials have said that all appeals against their convictions have been exhausted and there is no need to delay the executions any longer as the constitutional challenge to firing squads is a separate matter.

Executions in Indonesia are by firing squad, usually carried out at night in undisclosed locations.