Indonesian cleric linked to Bali bombings freed from jail
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200 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed in 2002 attack.
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200 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed in 2002 attack.
A radical cleric linked to the Bali nightclub bombings was freed from prison on Friday, stirring grief and anger among victims nearly two decades after more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed in Indonesia’s worst terror attack.
Abu Bakar Bashir, 82, is seen as the spiritual leader of Islamist terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which was responsible for the massive blasts that ripped through a pair of packed bars in October 2002.
Bashir is the alleged mastermind behind the deadly Bali bombings that claimed more than 200 lives. Ms Fox, then 29, was one of hundreds of Australians enjoying a night out in Kuta on October 12, 2002, when a terrorist detonated a bomb that tore through Bali s nightclub strip. Her friend Bronwyn Cartwright and fellow Geelong residents Aaron and Justin Lee and Justin s wife, Stacey, nee Thornburgh, were among the 88 Australians who died in the attacks. Ms Fox sustained life-changing burns to more than 80 per cent of body and spent nearly a year in hospital after the attack. He took all those lives away and he took away our sense of safety and freedom, Ms Fox said.
Bali bombing survivor Therese Fox says the release of terrorist Abu Bakar Bashir would be traumatic for victims who never got justice for the 2002 blasts.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has reiterated that the responsibility of reparations for the victims of past gross human rights violations, including acts of terrorism, is in the hands of the government. He also stressed the government’s commitment to uphold the rights of all citizens during a public ceremony on Wednesday to hand over compensation to terror victims.
“The reparation to victims of crimes, including the victims of gross human rights violations and acts of terror, is part of the state’s responsibility to be present to provide protection and uphold the victims’ rights,” Jokowi said in the ceremony on Dec. 16 at the State Palace, which was livestreamed on the Sekretariat Presiden YouTube channel.