Abu Bakar Ba’asyir - JP/R. Berto Wedhatama

Concerns have arisen over President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s decision to release firebrand cleric and terrorism convict Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, who has maintained his defiance of the country’s founding principles, just weeks before April’s presidential election.

Jokowi said he took humanitarian considerations into account in his decision to release the 80-year-old cleric from Gunung Sindur prison in Bogor, West Java, because he is experiencing failing health because of his advanced age.

Ba’asyir, who had been ineligible for parole due to his insistence on opposing the national ideology Pancasila and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), will be able to walk free this week after the President agreed to exempt him from a requirement to pledge loyalty to the NKRI, as stipulated in Article 43A of Government Regulation No. 99/2012 on remission and convict release.

The spiritual leader of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, which orchestrated the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, can return to his home in Surakarta, Central Java, after serving more than seven years of his sentence.

“I am considering his health condition, especially his access to medical services,” Jokowi said during his visit to Garut, West Java, over the weekend.

The President’s lawyer, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who is also an advisor for the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin presidential election campaign team, said Ba’asyir’s legal counsel and the government had been at loggerheads for years over the issue of loyalty to the NKRI and Pancasila.

“I spoke to Jokowi about this. We have been running back and forth on Pancasila while [Ba’asyir’s] condition has continued to get worse. And [the President] understood, therefore, he agreed to simplify the mechanism,” he said.

He added that the President had the discretion to override a regulation, as long as it was not a law and there was a strong argument for doing so. “Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly will be handling this. On Monday, we will start the process,” said Yusril.

It is unclear if Jokowi granted him a pardon or merely approved a request for a conditional release.

Ba’asyir’s son, Abdul Rohim, said that his father’s release was partly thanks to Yusril’s lobbying the President.

Rohim said Yusril offered the family his help lobbying Jokowi after the family’s numerous attempts to get parole failed.

“So, there were two influencing factors in Ba’asyir’s release. Apart from his having served two thirds of his jail term, it was also Yusril’s lobbying of the President,” he said.

Rohim said the cleric would spend his time at the family’s pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Ngruki, Sukoharjo, Central Java, upon his release from prison. The family will also welcome him with a small celebration.

It is not the first time Jokowi has released inmates of high profile cases.

In 2017, the President granted clemency for former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Antasari Azhar, who had been convicted of murder, after serving seven-and-a-half years in prison.

In July, corruption convict Robert Tantular, the former owner of Bank Century, was released on parole after serving 10 years of his 21 year sentence. Law experts continue to question the calculation of Robert’s sentence reduction, arguing that it was too early for him to be released.

Abdul Fickar Hadjar, a criminal law expert from Trisakti University, said that Jokowi’s decision could potentially disrupt the country’s legal system if the government failed to put forward strong arguments to back it up.

“Although he based [Ba’asyir’s release] on humanitarian considerations, there must be a legal basis. If Jokowi tweaks the law or makes a new one, this will look political,” he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Siti Zuhro, a political researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), said Jokowi, who is running alongside cleric Ma’ruf Amin, might be trying to secure his reelection in April by releasing Ba’asyir.

However, she warned that the move might result in backlash as conservative voters did not make up the majority of Muslims in the country. “Is it because of the election and the desire to push up the votes? Is he so worried that he thinks Ba’asyir’s freedom could win him Muslim votes?” said Siti.

Terrorism expert Al Chaidar, who is also a former member of the radical group Islamic State of Indonesia (NII), said the President’s decision would endanger the country’s fight against terrorism, one of the pillars of which is a strong legal system.

He said that if Ba’asyir was released without conditions, more terrorism convicts would propose similar health concerns as arguments for their release, setting a negative precedent for law enforcement.

Chaidar, however, expressed doubt Ba’asyir’s release would strengthen terrorist groups as Ba’asyir’s influence had faded after leaving the Islamic State (IS) movement, which moved on to involve new groups to orchestrate more recent attacks. “[Ba’asyir] is no longer affiliated with IS. So the impact would be more on the legal system“ he said.

Ba’asyir’s lawyer Muhammad Mahendradatta, however, rejected claims that Ba’asyir’s release had anything to do with Jokowi, arguing that his team had been negotiating for his release for the past two years.

“This plan is free from political interest and is not unusual in our legal system. The public does not need to credit the government for this, or praise [Jokowi’s administration] for releasing a member of the ulema, for the sake of devotion to the ulema,” he said. (ggq)

Ganug Nugroho Adi contributed to this report from Surakarta.

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Ba’asyir convictions

* 2005: Ba’asyir is found guilty of conspiracy in the 2002 Bali attacks and is sentenced to two years and six months in prison.

* 2006: The Supreme Court acquits Ba’asyir of allegations he was involved in Bali bombings.

* 2008: He establishes a new Islamist group Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid.

* 2011: He is convicted of supporting a jihadi military training camp in the Jantho hills in Aceh and is sentenced to 15 years in prison.

* 2014: He publicly pledges his allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the terrorist Islamic State (IS) movement.

* 2016: His legal team files a review on his case and begins negotiating for a sentence reduction because of his deteriorating health.

* 2019: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo approves his early release, citing his health and advanced age.

Source: Various sources

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