Indonesia to release terrorist leader in June 2006

Indonesia is about to release the leader of JI (Jemaah Islamiyah) from prison, this coming June. Muslim cleric Abu Bakara Ba’asyir, is known to be the ’spiritual leader’ of JI (Jemaah Islamiyah), the group that has caused pain and anguish across the country for a number of years.

Abu Bakara Ba’asyir is serving a 2.5 year sentence for conspiring to cause the terror attacks in Bali in 2002. One has to ask ask ‘who is making the decisions in this country?’ You can get life for possessing a packet of drugs, but 2.5 year for conspiring to murder 200 people.

I think most reasonable people in Indonesia would not want him released, and President SBY is in an awkward position, because the sentence was already in place when he came on board. A President cannot just change prison sentences to suit himself. As for the Indonesian legal system, it is already riddled with corruption and Indonesia will have to lay in the bed it has made for itself.