Abu Bakar Bashir: Indonesia back-pedals on early release

Indonesia will likely postpone the early release of notorious extremist Abu Bakar Bashir following widespread backlash.

The Indonesian government will review a decision to release radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. Picture: AP

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has bowed to domestic and international pressure over the proposed release of Abu Bakar Bashir, the ageing spiritual leader of the Bali bombers, declaring last night that the notorious extremist must swear loyalty to the state to qualify for parole.

Mr Jokowi had said on Friday that the 80-year-old, who founded the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group behind the deadly 2002 attacks, would be released on humanitarian grounds and indicated his release would be unconditional.

But by last night the president had reversed that position, laying out conditions for Bashir’s release that almost guarantee the firebrand cleric will remain behind bars.

“As I said before, the humanitarian considerations are that ustazBa’asyir is very old and has many health problems,” Mr Jokowi said.

“But we have a legal system and we have to go through the legal mechanism for conditional parole. The conditions for that must be fulfilled. I cannot clash with that. For example, loyalty to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, loyalty to Pancasila (the country’s founding ideology): Those are basic principles.”

Earlier yesterday Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he had personally been lobbying Indonesian leaders not to release Bashir who he said was “a threat” to both Australians and Indonesians.

“I would obviously be very disappointed about that like other Australians would and I would register that disappointment and quite strong feelings about [the possibility of his release],” Mr Morrison said.

“We don’t want this character able to go out there and incite the killing of Australians and Indonesians, preaching a doctrine of hate.”

Bill Shorten endorsed the Coalition’s handling of the matter, but added he personally believed Bashir belonged in jail.

“When it comes to this person and his evil acts, the government and I are of the same position,” the Opposition Leader said.

“At a personal level, to the extent that a leader can have a personal opinion, he can be in jail for as long as he should be. I think that’s where he belongs.”

The president’s clarification came after Indonesia’s Law and Security Minister back-pedaled on weekend announcements by senior government officials that Bashir would be released unconditionally this week.

Mr Wiranto told media Monday night at a hastily convened press conference that the cleric’s release would now be subject to a “comprehensive” review.

“The president instructed relevant officials to immediately conduct a more in-depth and comprehensive study to respond to that request. That is what is happening at the moment,” he said.

Bashir’s lawyer Achmad Michdan said yesterday he hopes his client would still walk free from prison this week.

Mr Achmad said the government would owe “everyone an explanation” if it reneged on its offer to grant him an unconditional pardon and waive the usual legal requirements that he admit his guilt and declare his allegiance to the Indonesian state.

“The initiative came from president Jokowi but of course for terrorism cases the procedure is more complicated and involves many government institutions like police, ministry of justice, security minister. We understand that the president has to listen to their inputs,” he told The Australian.

But, he added; “From our conversations with Mr Yusril (Jokowi’s lawyer and campaign Adviser) we were under the impression everything was taken care of. They are the ones who announced the plans. They are the ones making comments to the media.”

Bashir, who has served nine years of a fifteen year sentence for funding a terrorism training camp, rejected parole last December because he does not recognise the authority of the Indonesian state and says Indonesia should be an Islamic state governed by Sharia Law.

But he is understood to have accepted President Jokowi’s offer of an unconditional release, notwithstanding strident criticism of the proposal inside Indonesia and internationally which has since forced a government rethink.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said 88 Australians died “horrifically” when Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists detonated two massive bombs outside Bali nightclubs on October 12, 2002, and it was critical to continued counter-terrorism efforts that Bashir should not be in a position to “incite anything”.

He appealed to Jakarta to “show great respect for Australia in how they manage this issue”, and to ensure Bashir served his full judicial sentence.

But Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Jokowi’s campaign manager, a former justice minister and the man who brokered the deal, told The Australian he was taken aback by the government’s about-turn, and warned Bashir could “sue the government for denying his rights to parole”.

While Mr Yusril had previously said Bashir would receive an unconditional pardon, yesterday he claimed parole would be the “simplest and fastest solution” because the cleric’s imprisonment predated the legal requirement to swear allegiance to the state.

“Parole is 100 per cent the authority of the government and the president has agreed that on humanitarian grounds Bashir should be released early,” he said. “The government was supposed to do the administrative work today but Wiranto’s statement signalled the plan had changed. Now I’m not sure when, or if, Bashir will be released.”

Any deferment is unlikely to improve president Jokowi’s already low electoral stocks with conservative and hardline Indonesian Muslims, a vote bank he has been accused of cynically trying to woo by dangling the release offer.

But the debate has handily diverted attention away from the early release tomorrow (OK) of another Indonesian prisoner, former Jakarta governor and Jokowi loyalist Basuki Tjahaja “Ahok” Purnama.

The Christian, ethnic-Chinese politician was jailed for blasphemy in May 2017 following a concerted campaign by a coalition of Islamists and political opponents of Jokowi.