Indonesia to release suspected Bali bombings mastermind

Radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who was allegedly involved in the 2002 Bali bombings, will be released by Indonesian authorities this week.

Bashir, 82, was handed a 15-year jail sentence in 2011 after his role in funding militant training camps in Aceh province came to light. He is considered the spiritual leader of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network, and one of the country’s most notorious extremists.

Rika Aprianti, a spokeswoman for the corrections directorate general at the law and human rights ministry, said in a statement that Bashir would be released on Friday “as his prison term expired and ended”. 

Bashir received several sentence reductions, often granted to prisoners in Indonesia, ultimately bringing his 15-year sentence down to nine years.

Jemaah Islamiah has been accused of plotting several major attacks in Indonesia and includes in its ranks operatives trained in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the southern Philippines.

Its members are accused of orchestrating the 2002 bombings of Bali nightclubs which killed more than 200 people, among them scores of Australians, and an attack on the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people a year later.

A senior JI operative who is believed to have made the bombs for both attacks, Zulkarnaen, was among 23 suspected militants arrested last month.

Security analyst Ridlwan Habib said that though Bashir’s stature has weakened, extremists may try to associate their activities with him to gain traction and boost their credibility. “Bashir is a senior figure in Indonesia’s jihadist movement, and it’s not impossible that his big name could be used,” he said.

Bashir’s lawyer had previously demanded an early release for him, citing health concerns during the pandemic, though these demands were rejected.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, while seeking reelection in January 2019, had considered an early release for Bashir on humanitarian grounds but scrapped the plan after Bashir reportedly declined to pledge allegiance to the Indonesian state. Mr Widodo's prospective move triggered a huge backlash in the country and in Australia.

Additional reporting by agencies