‘DEMOLITION MAN’ MAY WALK FREE EIGHT YEARS EARLY
Aterrorist who helped orchestrate the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings could soon walk free, with authorities revealing they will support his parole application. Umar Patek helped mastermind the atrocity which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, nearly one year after the September 11 attacks on October 12.
His Filipino wife secured Indonesian citizenship on Wednesday as a ‘thank you’ to Patek for denouncing terrorism while serving his 20-year sentence.
Prison authorities who attended the citizenship ceremony at Porong jail in East Java said they will support Patek’s application for parole when the time comes.
Porong prison Governor Tonny
Naniggolan said Patek will first need to served two-thirds of his sentence, which means he could be released in 2023.
‘Not only me [will support the application], but also the National Agency for Combating Terrorism... and others,’ he told 7 News, noting Petek had been a ‘well-behaved’ prisoner.
As officials watched on, Patek addressed the crowd at his wife’s citizenship ceremony and shared a message about terrorism.
‘My message is clear, don’t do any terror acts because the Indonesian Government maintains the safety and comfort of all regions to perform worship,’ he said.
Patek, who was nicknamed ‘Demolition Man’ by Indonesian investigators, fled the country for nine years to the Philippines and Pakistan after the bombings.
He was captured in January 2011 in Abbottabad - where Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S Navy Seals just a few months later.
Patek was one of Asia’s most wanted terror suspects at the time, with a Aud$1.47million reward for anyone who could find him.
He was extradited back to Indonesia where he faced trial over the attacks - as well as his role in the Christmas Eve bombings at churches in 2000 and jailed for 20 years.
He married his wife Ruqayyah Binti Husein Luceno in Mindanao, Philippines - an area with a large population of Muslims - while he was a Jihadist.
During the terror attack, a 700kg bomb hidden inside a van parked outside Sari Club in Kuta Beach had exploded.
Most of the victims were foreign tourists.
Patek, whose real name is Hisyan bin Alizien, was recruited into Al-qaida-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah by Dulmatin, a fellow militant.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, has been battling militants since the Bali bombings.
Attacks aimed at foreigners have been largely replaced in recent years by smaller, less deadly strikes targeting the government, mainly police and anti-terrorism forces and local ‘infidels.’