Preacher of hate Abu Bakar Bashir rewarded for showing no mercy

Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir gesturing during a court appearance in Cilacap, Central Java. Picture: AFP

The last time Abu Bakar Bashir was released early from prison in 2006 — having served 26 months for giving his blessing to the 2002 Bali bombers — the spiritual leader of terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah used the trip home to central Java to preach the evils of the US, which he accused of waging war against Muslims.

Within months he was urging supporters to beat up infidels, had referred to Bali tourists as “worms and maggots”, and renewed his campaign to impose sharia law across Indonesia.

Two years later he had set up a new extremist group, Jamaah ­Ansharut Tauhid, which has since been proscribed a terrorist organisation by both the US and UN.

This Thursday the radical cleric, who in 2014 pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, only to later withdraw it, will walk free from prison again thanks to the clemency of Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

He will have served just under two-thirds of a 15-year sentence for aiding a terrorist training camp.

President Jokowi’s spokesmen insist there will be no repeat of Bashir’s former extremist roadshow, and that the ailing 80-year-old is being released on humanitarian grounds to spend his last days with family.

But the terms of Bashir’s ­release are opaque. The President’s lawyer, a former justice minister, says he will receive an unconditional pardon.

As such, Bashir’s own lawyer insists there would be no legal ­impediment should his client ­resume preaching.

Bashir has never renounced ­violence, nor expressed regret for the murderous rampage of Jemaah Islamiah. It’s hardly surprising that news of his imminent release has sparked dismay and disbelief in both Australia and Indonesia.

There is little chance conservative Muslims will be wooed by what is widely seen as a cynical ploy for votes ahead of April’s presidential elections.