Bali bomber leader to go

Radical cleric set for release

EXTREMIST Islamic terrorist Abu Bakar Bashir is preparing to walk free from prison in Indonesia this Friday.

Bashir is the alleged mastermind behind the deadly 2002 Bali bombings, that claimed more than 200 lives, including 88 Australians.

The spiritual leader and co- founder of the murderous terror organisation Jemaah Islamiah ( JI), which has links to al- Qaida and is aligned to ISIL, was jailed for 15 years on terrorism charges linked to terrorist training camps in Aceh province.

Rika Aprianti, a spokesman for Indonesia’s department of corrections, confirmed the firebrand cleric would be freed on Friday.

“He will be released on January 8, as his prison term expires,” Mr Aprianti said.

Last year Bashir, who is 82, rejected parole in 2018 by refusing to declare loyalty to Indonesia’s philosophy of “Pancasila” — the five principles of unity, democracy, social justice, belief in one God and civilised humanity.

Convicted terrorists in Indonesia must confirm their adherence to Pancasila and renounce radicalism before they are released.

The head of Indonesia’s Human Rights Ministry, Imam Suyudi, said while Bashir had served his time, he would receive special supervision coordinated by the national police and the anti- terrorist squad Densus 88.

“While in Gunung Sindur prison, he was detained alone in a maximum- security cell. During his jail time he followed the rules and undertook coaching activities,” Mr Suyudi said.

The ageing cleric, who had 55 weeks sliced off his sentence for good behaviour, appears on the United Nation’s Security Council’s index of international terrorists for his association with al- Qaida, the Taliban and ISIL and for financing and facilitating bomb attacks and supplying arms to JI.

When he was released in 2006, he immediately campaigned to enforce sharia law over civil law throughout the archipelago.