CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian leader said Friday he was disappointed that Indonesia further reduced the criminal sentence of the bomb maker in the Bali attack that killed 202 others, which could lose him in a few days if he gets parole.
The recent maximum relief in Umar Patek’s sentence brings his general discounts to nearly two years and means he could be released before the 20th anniversary of the October attacks.
“This will cause additional misery to the Australians who were the families of the victims of the Bali attacks,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Channel 9. “We lost the lives of 88 Australians in those attacks. “
Albanese said he would continue to make “diplomatic representations” to Indonesia on Patek’s sentencing and other issues, adding that Australians recently imprisoned in Indonesia. Albanese described Patek as “abhorrent”.
“His movements were the movements of a terrorist,” Albanese told Channel 9. “They have had such terrible effects on Australian families that they continue the trauma that exists. “
Indonesia gives sentencing discounts to prisoners on vital holidays such as the nation’s Independence Day, which was on Wednesday.
Patek earned a 5-month reduction for smart habit and may be released this month from Porong prison in East Java province if he is granted parole, said Zaeroji, who heads the provincial Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
Zaeroji, who has only one name, said Patek had the same rights as other inmates and had met legal requirements to obtain sentence reductions. he also swore to be a smart citizen,” Zaeroji said.
Patek was arrested in Pakistan in 2011 and tried in Indonesia, where he was convicted in 2012. He was originally sentenced to 20 years in prison.
With his sentence served plus sentence reductions, he is eligible for parole on Aug. 14. The resolution of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights is still pending, Zaeroji said. If parole is denied, he can remain in prison until 2029.
Patek, one of the many men involved in the attack, has been widely attributed to Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian militant organization connected to al-Qaeda. Most of those killed in the attack on the hotel island were foreign tourists.
Another convicted conspirator, Ali Imron, was sentenced to life in prison. Earlier this year, a third activist, Aris Sumarsono, whose real name is Arif Sunarso, even better known as Zulkarnaen, was sentenced to 15 years after his capture in 2020 after 18 years on the run. .
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