Last Surviving Bali Bomber's Apology Rejected by Victims

Imron is hoping for a similar decision on his sentence. He said he submitted a request for a presidential pardon this year but received no response.

There have been no reports of Indonesian officials discussing his release.

Indonesia's National Counter Terrorism Agency, justice ministry, and a presidential adviser did not respond to a request for comment.

While the program's terms for an early release are strict -- participants must pledge allegiance to Indonesia and disavow their networks -- the potential release of convicted mass murderers is highly controversial.

Experts are critical of leniency for militants like Imron who aligned with the now-banned Jemaah Islamiyah group, Al-Qaeda's much-diminished network in Indonesia.

"How do they think? Nobody knows. You never know if it's sincere or not. But you have to look at the actions," said Sana Jaffrey, director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta.

Imron said he acted on the orders of his older brother following the US invasion of Afghanistan but now calls it a "wrong act of jihad".

He claimed to have since helped deradicalize at least 400 jihadists. He has also fronted a comic book campaign that preached tolerance to young Indonesians.

If released, he said he would "continue walking on the path of a deradicalization campaign".

Survival mechanism