Indonesian President eyes pardons for terrorists behind Bali bombings

Members of Jemaah Islamiah, the now defunct organisation responsible for the 2002 Bali bombing, may be eligible for conditional release.

The blast site after the bombings in Denpasar, Bali, on October 12, 2002. Picture: Getty Images

Members of Jemaah Islamiah, the now defunct organisation responsible for the 2002 Bali bombing, may be eligible for conditional release as Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto doubles down on his plan to grant pardons to thousands of inmates convicted of various crimes, including drug trafficking and corruption.

JI was an al-Qa’ida-linked group responsible for the twin blasts outside two Kuta beach nightclubs in Bali on October, 12, 2002. Some 202 people were killed, including 88 Australians. The group was also responsible for the Christmas Eve church bombings of 2000, the Australian embassy bomb attack in 2004, the second Bali blast in 2005 and suicide bomb strikes on Jakarta’s JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels.

Leaders of the group declared this year that they had dissolved the organisation, committed to abandoning violence and extremism, and pledged their loyalty to the republic of Indonesia.

Eddy Hartono, head of Indonesia’s counter-terrorism agency, told The Australian the government was looking into granting parole for JI members, with requirements including having served at least two-thirds of their sentences and demonstrating regret for their actions.

He said parole would be possible for all former JI members.

“Under current regulation, for certain cases, like narcotics, corruption and terrorism, it would require co-ordination with the Immigration and Correction Ministry, Ministry of Law, and Ministry of Human Rights,” Mr Hartono said. “If the criteria are met, it can be granted.”

He said the agencies would meet early in January to determine their fate.

About 115 JI members are still in detention in Indonesia, including its last leader, Para Wijayanto, who had worked to dismantle JI since he assumed leadership in 2008. He was arrested in 2019 and received a seven-year sentence.

Another former leader is Abu Rusydan, who briefly served as the interim leader of JI after Abu Bakar Ba’asyir was arrested in the early 2000s. He was sentenced for a second time in 2022 to six years in prison.

The two men, however, have been campaigning for the dissolution of the organisation, and promote a peaceful and tolerant interpretation of Islam.

Wijayanto told The Australian in September the group made a mistake and had re-evaluated its approach. As many as 1400 former JI members gathered in Surakarta, Central Java on Saturday where they pledged their allegiance to the republic of Indonesia.

Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Co-ordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, said all JI inmates should be eligible for parole or encouraged to apply for a pardon from the President.

“All of them, both those already convicted and those still in the process, will also be discussed for the possibility of receiving clemency and pardon from the President,” Mr Yusril said in a statement.

The minister insisted the policy was based on Mr Prabowo’s willingness to forgive.

The new administration has previously said it is planning to pardon up to 44,000 prisoners, from drug offenders to activists jailed for defamation. The President has even expressed willingness to pardon corrupt officials if they were willing to return what they stole.

Earlier this month, Indonesian authorities transferred the remaining five members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ring back to Australia after more than 19 years in prison. Matthew Norman, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj were given life sentences, while ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by firing squad in 2015.