The leniency here is an unmistakable indication of how the Indonesian government regards the Bali bombing.
“Bali bombmaker Umar Patek has sentence reduced, Anthony Albanese confirms,” by Tom Lowrey and Anne Barker, ABC.net.au, August 18, 2022 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
A survivor of the 2002 Bali bombings says the decision to cut the sentence of the bombmaker responsible for the terror attack was a “kick in the guts” for the families of victims.
Perth man Brad McIlroy was just 19 and in Kuta on an end-of-season trip with the Kingsley Football Club when the bombings happened and seven of his mates were killed.
Mr McIlroy said the families of those killed were already preparing themselves for the emotional turmoil of the forthcoming 20th anniversary of the bombings, and the news that Umar Patek would be released early had exacerbated their distress.
“It [the anniversary] really knocks them around quite a bit, and so to have this thrown in as well – it’s a real kick in the guts,” he said.
Sentence cut by five months
Umar Patek was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison in 2012 for his role in the bombings that killed more than 200 people, including 88 Australians.
Prisoners in Indonesia are often granted reductions to their sentence on Indonesia’s Independence Day on August 17.
Patek was granted a five-month reduction, which could mean he would be freed on parole later this month….
Antony Svilicich returned to Perth with burns to 60 per cent of his body and was the last West Australian survivor to be released from hospital after the attack….
He said the timing of the court’s decision was insensitive, calling the order a “joke.”
“They could have done this six months ago, they could have done it in six months’ time.
“They’ve decided to do it six weeks before the 20th anniversary, it’s just rubbing salt into the wounds of all the survivors and all the people who were affected by this tragedy.”
