BANGKOK – One of Indonesia’s most notorious terrorists, Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, was released from prison Friday after being sentenced to 15 years in prison for more than 10 years for helping set up a terrorist training camp.
Mr Bashir, 82, is the co-founder and former spiritual leader of a secret terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah, which carried out a series of deadly attacks in the 2000s, including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing that killed 202 people, many of them them Australian tourists.
The prison authorities said he had reduced his sentence by 55 months for good behavior, Islamic holidays and other cuts. His release was confirmed by his lawyer, Achmad Midan.
In Australia, relatives and friends of the Bali bombing victims expressed their disappointment at the release of Mr Bashir. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne called on Indonesia to closely monitor its activities.
“Our message in Jakarta has made clear our concern that such individuals will be prevented from inciting future attacks against innocent civilians,” Ms. Payne said this week.
Mr Bashir’s release comes as the government tries to fight Another radical Islamic group, the Islamic Defenders Front, whose ardent leader Rizieq Shihab has called for a “moral revolution”. Authorities arrested Mr Rizieq last month for violating coronavirus protocols and ordered his organization to disband.
The country’s counter-terrorism police arrested 23 members of Jemaah Islamiyah last month, including Aris Sumarsono, better known as Zulkarnaen, a leader who had been wanted for 18 years.
Despite Mr Bashir’s long history of terrorist activity, experts said they do not believe he poses a threat in prison given his age and isolation from the extremist movement.
“I don’t think his release will change anything in Indonesia,” said Sidney Jones, director of the Jakarta Institute for Conflict Analysis, who has been following his activities for a long time. “Today’s terrorists can find everything they need for inspiration and guidance on their smartphones. You may respect him, but the world went on. “
Mr. Bashir, whose white hair and grin give him a friendly, grandfather-like appearance, had long tried by all means to establish a caliphate or an Islamic state in Southeast Asia.
In 1972 he co-founded an Islamic school in Central Java that served as a recruiting center for Jemaah Islamiyah.
Dictator Suharto’s crackdown on Islamists forced him to flee to Malaysia, where he lived for many years, and helped build the group into an impressive international network with cells in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
His close associates included his Indonesian clergyman, Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, who was believed to be Al Qaida’s main link with Jemaah Islamiyah and the mastermind of numerous bomb attacks. He has been detained in Guantánamo Bay Prison for 14 years.
After Suharto’s fall in 1998, the two Malaysian clergy returned to Indonesia, and Jemaah Islamiyah began its regional campaign of violence, including bombing churches, the Bali nightclub and the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta.
The United States accused Mr. Bashir of being a key agent for al-Qaeda, but the Indonesian authorities had problems upholding the charges. He was acquitted of seven terrorist attacks over the Bali bombing but served 26 months on conspiracy and immigration charges.
Mr. Bashir praised the Bali bombers as “Islamic heroes” but declined any responsibility.
Mr. Bashir was arrested again in 2010 for helping to mobilize and fund a militant group that set up an armed training camp in Aceh province. At the time of his trial, his lawyer alleged that the clergyman only brought charges under pressure from Washington.
He was released 10 years and five months after his arrest.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who was seeking a second term in 2019, was on the verge of granting Mr Bashir an early release as a concession to conservative Muslims. But he withdrew that plan in the face of strong opposition at home and in Australia.
Mr. Bashir “is a household name but is no longer an influence,” said Alto Labetubun, an Indonesian terrorist analyst. “There is always the possibility that he is the patron of a cycle of violence or new acts of terrorism. But I think its era is over. “
Mr Bashir’s family members said they had not planned a big celebration to welcome him home, perhaps after learning a lesson from Mr Rizieq, who was arrested after having self-imposed gatherings of thousands of thousands upon his return Supporters against coronavirus protocols had organized exile in Saudi Arabia.
