Indonesia to Release Convicted Terrorist Ba’asyir Friday

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesian terror convict Abu Bakar Ba’asyir will be released from Gunung Sindur prison in Bogor, West Java on Friday, January 8, an official confirmed.

Rika Aprianti, a spokesperson for the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Corrections Directorate General, said that Ba’asyir would be free because he had completed his 15-year sentence.

“He will be freed on January 8, 2021, because his sentence has been fulfilled,” Rika said on Monday, January 4.

Following his release, Rika added, the ministry’s Corrections Directorate General will work closely with the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) and the National Police’s Densus 88 anti-terror squad.

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“We have also coordinated with the family and related parties,” she added.

Elsewhere, Imam Suyudi, the West Java Office head of the Law and Human Rights Ministry said that Ba’asyir got a total remission for 55 months in his sentence.

“He was sentenced to 15 years after he got remission for 55 months on general remission, decade remission, and special remission, as well as on the occasion of Idul Fitri and when he was sick,” said Imam as reported by Tribunnews.com.

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It was previously reported that Ba’asyir was sentenced to 15 years by the South Jakarta District Court in 2011. He was convicted of supporting a jihadi training camp.

After he appealed, the Jakarta High Court reduced his sentence to nine years. But, the Supreme Court has rejected his appeal and reinstated the South Jakarta District Court’s initial 15-year sentence.

Ba’asyir, a Muslim cleric and leader of the Al-Mukmin Ngruki Islamic Boarding School in Sukoharjo, Central Java, was proven to motivate others to use funds for terrorism.

(Writer: Ardito Ramadhan | Editor: Dani Prabowo)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/01/04/14343421/jumat-abu-bakar-baasyir-bebas-murni.