Indonesia is set to release Abu Bakar Bashir (locally stylized as Ba’asyir), thought to be the regional leader of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), on Friday at the completion of his prison sentence.
Bashir, 82, is known for being the spiritual leader to JI, the regional terror group blamed for the deadly 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people and the suicide bombing at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta the following year that killed 13, but his conviction in relation to the acts of terrorism was overturned on appeal. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2011 for providing support to a terrorist training camp in Aceh.
The radical cleric has stacked up 55 months of remission due to good behavior, conduct, and compensation for religious holidays over the course of his incarceration.
“He will be released on Jan. 8, 2021, in accordance with the expiration or end of his sentence,” Indonesian corrections spokeswoman Rika Aprianti said yesterday.
Officials say security will be heightened around the Gunung Sindur Penitentiary in Bogor Regency on the day of Bashir’s release. Police have warned that they will disperse any crowds that greet Bashir upon his release.
Authorities also say they will continue to monitor Bashir’s activities after his release, in accordance with existing procedures on terror convicts.
The government last year reportedly considered early release for Bashir on health grounds, but the plan was scrapped after the cleric refused to pledge allegiance to the Indonesian state ideology of Pancasila and amid objections from Australia.
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