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Bali bomber Ali Imron seeking

presidential pardon in Indonesia
Imron, who has spent 21 years in prison, says he wants to be
released to work on deradicalisation projects

Convicted Bali bomber Ali Imron. Imron has said he is seeking a presidential pardon in Indonesia
over his role in the 2002 Bali bombings which targeted Kuta’s nightclub district. Photograph: Bay
Ismoyo/AFP/Getty Images

Rebecca Ratcliffe South'east Asia correspondent

Tue 23 Jan 2024 05.16 CET

Ali Imron, who was given a life sentence for his role in the 2002 Bali
bombing, is seeking a presidential pardon, saying he wants to be released so
he can work on deradicalisation projects across Indonesia.

Imron, 54, has spent 21 years in prison over the bombings that killed 202
people on the Indonesian island of Bali, including 88 Australians and 38
Indonesians.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post (SCMP) – which reported
he hopes for a pardon from Indonesian president Joko Widodo – he said he
felt “tired”.

“I don’t want to be released purely for personal reasons,”

Imron told SCMP. “I want to be free so that I can work on
deradicalisation programmes across Indonesia. From a
personal point of view, I am better off inside where there Most viewed
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Ali Imron is escorted by Indonesian police in Bali in 2003. Photograph: CRACK/REUTERS

While in prison he has been involved in government deradicalisation

programmes, including speaking at schools to warn against extremism. The
Indonesian government has combined such deradicalisation work with
security crackdowns as part of its counter-terrorism efforts.

Imron, who was an Islamic boarding school teacher prior to the attack, was
sentenced in 2003, aged 33, for assembling and transporting explosives used
in the attack. He was one of the few defendants to express remorse.

His older brothers, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, and Ali Ghufron, as well as Imam
Samudra were sentenced to death. They had defended the bombings as
necessary to avenge the treatment of Muslims at the hands of the US and
Israel.

Any pardon for Imron could prove highly controversial in Australia where
many victims of the attack were from.

Umar Patek, who was jailed for 20 years in 2012 after he was found guilty of
making bombs that ripped through two Bali nightclubs, was released on
parole in December 2022.

His release sparked anger in Australia, including among victims’ families.

The Australian government said at the time that many of its citizens would
be “deeply hurt” by Patek’s release, and that it had “sought assurances from
the Indonesian government that he will be subject to ongoing supervision
and monitoring”.

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