By Zach Hope and Amilia Rosa
Bali: The brother of Bali bomber Ali Imron has questioned why the remaining Australian members of the Bali Nine have been set free when his allegedly deradicalised family member is still serving a life sentence.
Ali Fauzi hopes to piggyback off the charity shown to foreigners by new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and secure his brother’s release from jail in the new year.
Ali Imron waving to journalists after his sentencing in 2003. He was spared the death penalty because of his remorse and co-operation with authorities. Credit: AP
Imron helped build the bombs and then drove a van packed with explosives that was detonated outside the Sari Club in Kuta. The October 2002 attack on the club and nearby Paddy’s Bar killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
“As an Indonesian, I am jealous,” Fauzi said. “Why are drug offenders given leniency? They have made no contribution whatsoever to drug prevention. Meanwhile, since being arrested Ali Imron has been carrying out deradicalisation efforts, cooperating with the police and cooperating with the government.”
Muslim-majority Indonesia takes drug crimes extremely seriously – more so than Australia – because of the people they kill and the lives they ruin.
But in a sharp turn from former president Joko Widodo, Prabowo this week allowed the five remaining prisoners of the Bali Nine to leave their life sentences and return to Australia, where they are now free. Filipina death row prisoner Mary Jane Veloso will also go home after years in Indonesian jail.
The Australian Bali Nine ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed by Indonesia in 2015. Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died in 2018 from stomach cancer. Renae Lawrence had her sentence commuted for good behaviour and was deported to Australia in 2018.
Fauzi asked for clemency several times during Widodo’s last term in office but was rejected.
“At that time, the process was stalled at the palace,” he said.
“In the era of Mr Prabowo, I will try again to file a pardon for Ali Imron. Hopefully, the kind Mr Prabowo can grant it.”
Their other brothers, Bali bombers Amrozi and Mukhlas, were executed in 2008 alongside Imam Samudra.
Imron was spared a death sentence in 2003 because of his remorse and co-operation with authorities. He has since asked for forgiveness and even met with victims or their families.
“If we look at Ali Imron’s efforts from 2003 to 2024, the results can already be seen,” Fauzi said. “[Terrorist group] Jamaah Islamiyah has been disbanded.
“He has retrained hundreds of his members who used to be in terrorist networks. Through him, they became aware and many of them are now ambassadors of peace.”
Fauzi, who was once a militant himself but now runs a deradicalisation program, posted a video to TikTok on Monday featuring their elderly mother pleading for mercy.
“I hope my video reaches [the president] – because it’s Mr Prabowo’s kindness to grant amnesty,” he said.
The family hopes Imron and other reformed terrorists can be among the 44,000 prisoners Prabowo has promised to release as part of an effort to ease overcrowding in Indonesian jails.
The news of Imron’s fresh bid for freedom sits uncomfortably with survivor Jan Laczyski, whose five friends were killed in the attacks. He fears Prabowo “could well pardon or release Ali Imron” if there was pressure after the Bali Nine case.
Martin Stephens, Michael Czugaj, Scott Rush, Matthew Norman and Si Yi Chen look on as Australia and Indonesia sign an agreement for their return home.
“Although both are life sentences, the fact Ali Imron made the bomb, drove the vehicle outside the Sari club knowing it was going to kill hundreds – it’s a big difference from being a mass murderer and convicted terrorist compared to what the Australians did,” he said.
Bomb-maker Umar Patek was paroled in 2022 after serving half of his 20-year sentence. The radical Jemaah Islamiah cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was freed in 2021. The alleged Bali bombing mastermind known as Hambali is still awaiting trial in the United States.
If his brother was released, Fauzi said he would be his guarantor.
“I am ready to be his replacement. If outside he is doing something crazy again, I am ready to come in to prison,” he said. “As with Umar Patek, I am the one who guaranteed him. As soon as he came out, I invited him to be a peace ambassador. Now, he’s doing good. He visits campuses and goes to schools.”
The Prime Minister’s Office has been contacted for comment.
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