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Convicted terrorist and the main bombmaker in the 2002 Bali bombings Umar Patek has been released from jail in Java, after serving just over half of his original 20-year sentence.
Key points:
- Indonesian authorities say Umar Patek had fulfilled all the requirements for parole, citing good behaviour
Patek was sentenced to 20 years in prison, a decade after the bombing, having spent nine years on the run
Australia had lobbied hard to have him kept in jail for his full term
Patek helped build the car bomb that that killed more than 200 people in the nightclub attacks, including 88 Australians.
Australia had lobbied hard to have him kept in jail for his full term, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in August describing his imminent release as "abhorrent".
But Indonesian authorities say he has fulfilled all the requirements for parole, after earning remissions for good behaviour.
"The special requirements that have been met by Umar Patek are that he has participated in the de-radicalisation coaching program," said Ministry of Law and Human Rights spokesperson Rika Aprianti at a press conference on Wednesday.
She told the ABC Patek "must report to the parole office" at first for once a week, "and after that it would be once a month."
He will remain on parole until 2030 but it can be revoked if he fails to report or breaks the law.
Patek 55, whose real name is Hisyam bin Alizein, was a leading member of the Al Qaeda-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah, which is blamed for the bombings at two nightclubs in Kuta Beach.
He received a total of 33 months of sentence reductions, which are often given to prisoners on major holidays, said Ms Aprianti.
Most recently, he was granted a five-month reduction on August 17, Indonesia's Independence Day.
That meant he has fulfilled the parole requirement of serving two-thirds of his current sentence, she said.
Patek was found guilty by the West Jakarta District Court of helping build a car bomb that was detonated by another person outside the Sari Club in Kuta, moments after a smaller bomb in a backpack was detonated by a suicide bomber inside the nearby Paddy's nightclub.
Patek was sentenced to 20 years in prison a decade after the bombing.
He left Bali just before the attacks and spent nine years on the run, during which he was considered one of Asia's most wanted terror suspects.
Survivor says de-radicalisation 'fanciful'
Bali bombing survivor Peter Hughes told the ABC he wasn't surprised by Patek's release and called claims of his de-radicalisation "fanciful".
"There's no chance of him actually being turned around," Mr Hughes said.
"How could he be [de-radicalised]?
"This guy was a mastermind that set this all up along with people like [Abu Bakar] Bashir and many others.
"And there's a history of people like him. They won't stop.
"For him to be let out, it's laughable."
"I remember going to Jakarta and we were going into that courtroom and, and sitting down and waiting for this person to walk in," he said.
"And he was somebody that was less than five foot tall."
He said the group of Australians were looking for Patek to receive a longer sentence than what he received, a sentence that has now been cut almost in half.
"[We were] determined to make sure this guy got the harshest sentence ever. And he didn't get that."
Mr Hughes said he hopes the Australian government will take a strong stance in their response to news of Patek's early release.
"I think they should step forward and say to the Indonesian President that this isn't good enough, and I think they need to put their foot down," he said.
"We can't change what the Indonesian government want to do their own people, but at least we could actually say something.
"I wouldn't like it to be passive, I'd like it to be fairly heavy handed."