Bali bomb maker could be released early

Umar Patek, the bomb maker responsible for the 2002 bombing in Bali, could be released early from prison.

The Indonesian ministry of law and human rights regional office in East Java has proposed his early release after he completed two-thirds of his sentence, plus remissions.

Patek was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2012 for his role in assembling the bomb which killed 202 people. He was also sentenced for his involvement in attacks on Jakarta churches on Christmas Eve 2000, in which 19 people were killed.

Patek confessed to helping make the bombs, but claimed he did not know how they would be used. It is believed he helped to assemble the suicide vests and the detonating cords and boosters connected to the explosives.

He left Bali just before the attacks and was on the run for nine years, travelling in the Philippines and Pakistan. He was caught by Pakistani authorities in 2011, whilst hiding in Abbotabad.

88 Australians were killed in the attack. Australia's prime minister Anthony Albanese, said: “I feel a great deal of common distress, along with all Australians, at this time.”

“He was responsible for death and destruction on a major scale. And this decision by the Indonesian government will add to the trauma that families are feeling at this time.”

He said that Australian officials had been told about the sentence reduction, and that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was making diplomatic representations.

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