Indonesia: Islamist religious leader Abu Bakar Bashir to be released
Abu Bakar Bachir in 2011. REUTERS - Beawiharta Beawiharta
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In Indonesia, Islamist religious leader Abu Bakar Bashir, who was convicted of his involvement in the Bali attacks in 2002, is due to be released on Friday.
Sentenced in 2011, he received a reduced sentence.
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He will be released on January 8, 2021 at the end of his prison term,
" Indonesian prison service ministry spokesperson Rika Aprianti said in a statement.
Abu Bakar Bashir, 82, was sentenced in 2011. In addition to the reduced sentence he is benefiting from, his lawyers have also argued the risk of contracting the coronavirus in prison because of his age.
Two years ago, a first attempt to release him had to be postponed after causing great emotion in Indonesia and Australia, countries from which dozens of the victims of the 2002 attacks came.
Bashir is considered a central figure in the Islamist organization Jemaah Islamiyah, responsible
for the Bali attacks of October 2002
, in which more than 200 people, including dozens of Australians, were killed.
However, he has always denied any involvement in these attacks and his conviction for the Bali attacks was overturned on appeal.
The announcement comes after the arrest in December of the military leader of Jemaah Islamiyah at the time of the attacks, Zulkarnaen, 57, who had been on the run for 18 years.
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