Australians whose lives were upended after the 2002 Bali bombings were angry and disappointed as Indonesia on Wednesday released Omar Patek, one of the key accused in the bombings.
Indonesia said Patek had been cleared of radicalization and granted parole. This sparked anger among many Australians, particularly those present at the nightclubs where the bombings took place.
In these blasts on October 12, 202 people from 21 different countries were killed. 88 of the victims of the bombing were from Australia.
Speaking to the BBC, one of the victims of the bombing, Andrew Sabi, said his life had changed forever. The blasts left Kasabi a double amputee.
Patek was a member of the al-Qaeda-inspired Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) group. He was on the run for a decade and was jailed in 2012 and sentenced to 20 years in prison and served only half of his initial sentence.
“This man gets his life back again. For many of us we will never get our life back again,” Jan Laczynski, another victim who lost five friends in the bombings, told the BBC on Thursday.
It is not the first time that Indonesia – the country with the world’s largest Muslim population – has been going soft on those accused of the Bali bombings. In 2021, Indonesia released Abu Bakar Basir, the alleged mastermind behind the bombings.
The victims of the Bali bombings find it hard to believe that Patek has reformed. “I’ve seen him closely. He didn’t seem abusive to me…. I don’t buy it at all,” Laczynski was quoted as saying by the BBC.
The Australian government lobbied against Patek’s release and called for tighter surveillance. Australian Minister Chris Bowen said Australians had every right to feel disappointed and concerned by the news.
Patek will attend a ‘counselling program’ till April 2030 and his parole will be revoked if he commits any violation.
Indonesia has taken some sharp turns towards religious authoritarianism.
Earlier this week, it criminalized extramarital affairs and cohabitation between unmarried couples. Observers fear that Indonesia is drifting away from its Panchasila, the country’s five fundamental principles, where secularism is held in high esteem.
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