Bali bombings cleric released

A RADICAL cleric accused of masterminding the Bali bombings will be released from jail on medical grounds.

Abu Bakar Bashir, 80, is said to have been a key figure in Islamist group Jemaah Islamiyah. JI was blamed for the 2002 bombings on the island which killed 202, mostly tourists.

Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo ordered the release, saying: ‘The first reason is humanitarian. He is old... and his health condition was also part of it.’

In 2011, Bashir was jailed for 15 years for helping fund a paramilitary group.

Bashir was also jailed over the Bali bombings but that conviction was quashed. Several militants convicted over the attack have been executed.