Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official

Jailed former leaders of Indonesia’s Jemaah Islamiyah militant group are being considered for parole, a senior counter-terror official said Tuesday, after the network disbanded and members pledged allegiance to the country.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network was responsible for some of the deadliest terror attacks in Indonesia, such as the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people — including 88 Australians.

The group declared their disbandment in late June and more than a thousand of their former members pledged allegiance to Indonesia in an event last week.

Indonesia’s counter-terrorism chief Eddy Hartono told AFP authorities are considering proposing parole for former JI leaders Para Wijayanto and Abu Rusdan, who attended the pledge of allegiance event virtually.

“If they meet the requirement, I will file for (their) parole. I will coordinate with the Immigration and Correction Ministry,” Eddy, head of Indonesia’s Counterterrorism Agency, said.

Para took over JI’s top job in 2009 but was arrested in 2019 and jailed for seven years in 2020.

Rusdan, who led the group after the arrest of JI’s leader Abu Bakar Bashir in 2002, was arrested in 2003 before his release in 2005.

He was rearrested in 2021 and jailed in 2022 after authorities found he resumed his support for the banned group.

Pledging allegiance was one of the parole conditions for terrorist convicts, Eddy said, pointing to a ministry regulation that includes other conditions such as serving two-thirds of their sentence.

There are 115 former JI members currently imprisoned, Eddy said.

He did not give further details on the number of terror convicts the agency planned to file for parole.

Senior law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra did not respond to a request for comment.

But Yusril said in a statement Monday his ministry is coordinating with relevant authorities to gather data on how many former JI members are eligible for parole or amnesty.

“All of them, be it those who have been convicted and those who are in process, we will discuss the possibility of getting amnesty and abolition from the President,” he said.

“The amnesty and abolition process is being formulated. Insha Allah, it can be carried out in the first months of 2025.”

The Indonesian government is considering a pardon for around 44,000 prisoners, including drug offenders and people jailed for defamation.