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Indonesia Set To Release Suspected Bali Bombings Mastermind Abu Bakar Bashir

Indonesia Set To Release Suspected Bali Bombings Mastermind Abu Bakar Bashir

The radical cleric's lawyers have been campaigning for his release due to old age and Covid-19 risk.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Indonesia is set to release the suspected mastermind behind the Bali bombings.

Radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir is considered the spiritual leader of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network that carried out the attacks in October 2002.

The terror attacks targeted the tourist hotspot of Kuta, with 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people of more than 20 other nationalities killed in three bombings.

Bashir is set to be released from his Indonesian cell after President Joko Widodo finally came to a decision on the issue.

"This release was decided because of humanitarian considerations and also related to his health care," Mr Widodo said.

The 82-year-old has denied any involvement in the Bali bombings.

He was jailed in 2011 for his role in militant training camps in Aceh province and was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for inciting others to commit terrorism.

Rika Aprianti, spokeswoman of the corrections directorate general at the law and human rights ministry, said Bashir was being released this week 'in accordance with the expiration date and the end of his term'.

His lawyers have been campaigning for him to be released from jail due to his old age and risk of contracting the coronavirus.

The Jemaah Islamiah network has been accused of organising huge attacks in Indonesia and reportedly had agents in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the southern Philippines.

Bashir has previously claimed the Jemaah Islamiyah network doesn't even exist and that the Bali bombings and other attacks it has been accused of were perpetrated by the CIA or Israel.

After the Bali bombings, Bashir issued a statement that said: "I support Osama bin Laden's struggle because his is the true struggle to uphold Islam."

Bashir was charged with treason, immigration violations, and providing false documents and statements to the Indonesian police in 2003. The offences related to 2000 Christmas Eve bombings of a Christian church.

He was found not guilty of treason however was convicted of immigration violations, which saw him jailed for three years that was later reduced to 18 months due to good behaviour.

Bashir was also arrested in 2004 for a bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel that killed 14 people in 2003. Secondary charges implicated him in the Bali bombings for the first time and he was found guilty of conspiracy and sentenced to two and a half years in jail.

Featured Image Credit: ABC

Topics: News, Australia