About a week after his conditional release, convicted terrorist I Hisyam bin Alizein a.k.a. Umar Patek, expressed remorse and apologized yesterday to the victims of the 2002 Bali bombings.
“I am not hesitant and [I will] not stop repeating my apologies to infinity to the victims of the Bali bombings and their families,” he said as quoted by local news outlets yesterday.
“Whatever their nationalities, whatever their religions, I sincerely apologize.”
Umar was speaking to reporters at the office of Yayasan Lingkar Perdamaian, a foundation focusing on deradicalization, in Lamongan, East Java.
He was reportedly in tears as he expressed his apology and was consoled by Lingkar Perdamaian’s chairman, Ali Fauzi.
Umar specifically mentioned Australian victims, who made up the majority of the 202 people killed in the bombing, in his apology.
“I also apologize to the Australians who were extremely affected by the Bali bombings crime,” he said.
Umar was released on parole last week after serving only half of the 20-year sentence he received for building the bombs used in the 2002 terrorist attack on 2 nightclubs in Kuta.
He is required to take part in a deradicalization program during his parole period, which ends on April 29, 2030.
“I will help the government to eradicate [terrorism] and help people realize the danger of terrorism and radicalism. Insya Allah [God Willing], I will be a peace ambassador,” Umar said.
Representatives of the Australian government, which previously strongly condemned plans to release Umar on parole, said the country was “horrified” that he had been freed.
Paul Vanni, an officer of Sydney’s Coogee Dolphins rugby team who lost six of his colleagues in the attack, dismissed Umar’s apology in an interview.
“Words mean nothing. It’s a complete slap in the face. He’s an assassin, a murderer.”
