President changes tack after agreeing to release alleged mastermind behind Bali bombings on humanitarian grounds

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Indonesia’s president says the alleged mastermind behind the Bali bombings won’t be released from prison unless he renounces radicalism, backing down from plans to free him without conditions.

President Joko Widodo said on Tuesday that Abu Bakar Bashir must fulfil conditions such as loyalty to the state and the national ideology to be eligible for release.

Bashir is considered the spiritual leader of Islamist group Jemaah Islamiah, which was implicated in the 2002 Bali bombings, in which more than 200 people were killed, 88 of whom were Australian.

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The radical Muslim cleric was convicted of terrorism charges in 2010 over links to militant training camps in Aceh province and jailed for 15 years.

The 80-year-old insists he is answerable only to God and that Indonesia should be governed by Islamic rather than civil law.

Widodo said: “There are legal mechanisms that we must go through. This is parole, not pure release, but conditional release, so the conditions must be fulfilled first.”

Widodo on Friday said he had agreed to Bashir’s release on humanitarian grounds.

On Monday, the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, voiced his concerns, saying: “Australians died horrifically on that night, and I think Australians everywhere would be expecting that this matter was treated with the utmost seriousness by our government, which it is.

“But also that the Indonesian government would show great respect for Australia in how they manage this issue.”

Bashir’s family had requested his release since 2017 because of his age and deteriorating health.