Durian. Indonesian authorities said on Dec.4 that Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, co-founder of regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), will be released on Dec.8 after serving 15 years of imprisonment.
He established JI with late Abdullah Sungkar. The organization grew during their exile in Malaysia during the government of Suharto. Ba’asyir returned to Indonesia after the falling of Suharto in May 1998.
‘’After serving his sentence, on Friday Jan.8, 2021, we will release [him]. Of course, the release of ABB [Abu Bakar Ba’asyir] will be done by the correctional unit with coordination with related stakeholders,’’ Imam Suyudi, head of West Java provincial justice and human rights department said in Bandung as reported by state news agency Antara.
Ba’asyir is currently serving his jail term at Gunung Sindur maximum security prison in Bogor, West Java.
The founder of Al-Islam Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Sukoharjo, Central Java, was sentenced as the leader of Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI), a banned organization in Indonesia, but later in 2008 he left the organization.
He received 55 months of sentence cut during his jail-term. Ba’asyir was arrested in August 2010 and sentenced for 15 years in prison on June 16, 2011.
It was the second time for him to charge by legal authorities for his involvement in terrorism activities with MMI.
Some members of JI also joined MMI and those groups were proven in courts responsible for various bombings in Indonesia including first Bali bombings in 2002. Both JI and MMI are listed as global terrorist groups.
Ba’asyir was taken oath to Islamic State (IS) leader Al Bagdadi when he was at Indonesian island prison Nusakambangan in Central Java before moved to Gunung Sindur prison.
