Michael Casey, Jakarta – A militant cleric jailed for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings will be among 53,000 inmates receiving sentence reductions to mark Indonesia's independence day, authorities and media reports said Saturday.
Abu Bakar Bashir, alleged spiritual head of the al-Qaida-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, was convicted in March of conspiracy in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.
Others convicted in the Bali blasts will also receive reductions in their prison terms, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin told the Jakarta Post.
"Convicts with a record of good behavior can get up to 10-months remission," said Mayun Mataram of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in Bali. Nineteen of the 24 Bali bombers jailed on the tourist island will get sentence reductions, said Mataram.
The youngest son of former dictator Suharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, is also expected to have his sentence for assassinating a judge reduced when Indonesia celebrates its 60th birthday on Wednesday, Hamid said. The 43-year-old former playboy earlier this year had his 15-year sentence reduced by five years on appeal.
It is an Indonesian tradition to cut jail terms on holidays for some of the country's 105,000 inmates who exhibit good behavior, with only those sentenced to death or life in prison excluded.
Authorities are expected to announce the length of the reductions Wednesday, but on average terms are cut by a few months.
Attorney Wirawan Adnan, who represented many of the Bali bombers including Bashir, said his clients deserve a break just like any other well-behaved inmate.
"This happens all over the world if you have been a good boy and don't cause trouble," Adnan said. "We're talking about human rights, and everyone should be treated the same whether you are a murderer (or) rapist." But Peter Hughes, a survivor who suffered serious burns in the Bali attacks, said the bombers should serve out their entire sentences.
"We don't like it but there is not much we can do about," said Hughes of Perth, Australia. "This is not justice. These guys are criminals and murders should be given heavy penalties without a reprieve." Bashir was sentenced in March to 30 months in jail for conspiracy in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.
Jemaah Islamiyah is suspected in several other deadly attacks, including the 2003 J.W. Marriott hotel bombing that killed 12 people, and the September 2004 Australian Embassy bombing that killed 11.