Indonesia's top terrorist convict Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual leader of Southeast Asia's terror group Jemaah Islamiah, will be released from prison on Friday (Jan. 8). Bashir was the alleged mastermind of Indonesia's deadliest terrorist attack — the 2002 bombings of Bali nightclubs, which killed 202 people. The head of West Java's law and human rights regional office, Imam Suyudi, said that Bashir would be released from Gunung Sindur prison in Bogor on Friday after fulfilling his 15-year jail sentence, reduced by 55 months on good behavior. "He has served his punishment well and followed all rules and procedures," Imam was quoted as saying by Antara. He also noted that Bashir is "in good shape" ahead of his release. Bashir's lawyer team had last year requested that the government prioritize him for early release along with other prisoners on fears of a potential coronavirus outbreak in prisons, citing his old age as a factor. Last April, Indonesia set free 30,000 prisoners who had served two-thirds of their sentences, in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in its overcrowded prisons. Separately, Indonesia's National Police spokesman Ahmad Ramadhan told reporters that the police would ensure security and order on the day of Bashir's release. He added that it would also monitor Bashir's movements after he walks free. The 82-year-old radical cleric has been in jail since his arrest in 2009. Bashir, a key figure in Jemaah Islamiah (JI), was previously jailed over the Bali bombings but released on appeal. In 2011, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for funding a training camp for terrorists in Indonesia's province of Aceh. Bashir's time was cut due to periodic sentence reductions handed to most prisoners in Indonesia. JI was involved in the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which killed 12 people in August 2003. In September 2004, a suicide car bomb outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta killed nine. Suicide bombers attacked Bali again in October 2005, killing 23 people. JI again attacks Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta in July 2009, killing eight people. Two years ago, plans to grant the aging Bashir early release on humanitarian grounds sparked a backlash in Indonesia and Australia — dozens of Australians died in the Bali attacks. Bashir's release comes amid the intensified efforts of Indonesia's anti-terrorism squad, Densus 88. In November and December 2020, it arrested 23 alleged terrorists in different places across Sumatra island. They included two men behind the Bali bombings — Taufik Bulaga, alias Upik Lawanga, and Aris Sumarsono, alias Zulkarnaen. And last July, a Jakarta court sentenced Para Wijayanto, the key leader of Al-Qaeda-linked JI — whom terrorism experts believe is Bashir's student — to seven years in jail for his role in recruiting and training militants and raising funds for those going to Syria. — Agencies
