Australia: Hopefully Ba'asyir Will No Longer Be A Threat After His Release

Abu Bakar Ba'asyir (Source: Antara)

JAKARTA - Australia hopes that the Indonesian government can ensure that a convicted terrorist, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, is no longer a threat after being purely free from the Gunung Sindur Penitentiary (LP), Bogor, Friday, January 8.

This was conveyed by Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Tuesday, January 5. Ba'asyir is a cleric who is believed to have radical views and is suspected of being the mastermind behind the bomb terror attacks in Bali in 2002.

Australia hopes Ba'asyir will no longer provoke more acts of terror when he is free, Payne said. Ba'asyir has been imprisoned since 2011 because of his association with a training center teaching radicalism in Aceh Province.

For his followers, Ba'asyir is considered the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network, an organization believed to be connected to al Qaeda. Jemaah Islamiah is believed to be responsible for the bomb attacks on several entertainment venues in Bali.

"Our embassy in Jakarta has made clear this concern that there are such persons should be prevented from provoking future acts of terror at the expense of innocent civilians," Payne said in a written statement.

Ba'asyir, 82, denied allegations that he was involved in the Bali bomb attacks. Lawyers representing Ba'asyir have not yet answered questions regarding his release this Friday. The terror bombing in Bali left more than 200 people dead and many of them Australian.

The JI network is also believed to be responsible for the bomb attack on the JW Marriott Hotel, Jakarta, in 2003 which left 12 people dead. A senior JI member is believed to be responsible for the terror attack. Payne said Australia had conveyed its hope to Indonesia so that the local government made sure Ba'asyir was no longer a danger to other parties.