Convicted Bali bomb maker Umar Patek, who faces imminent parole, has recorded an extraordinary on-camera interview from prison about his involvement in the 2002 nightclub bombings.
Key points:
- A video interview posted on Porong Prison’s official YouTube account shows Patek discussing his involvement in the Bali bombings
- The bomb maker claims he was always against attacks and has been de-radicalised
- Patek was recently approved for parole
Patek was filmed in recent days walking around the grounds of Porong Prison in East Java, chatting with the prison’s governor, the two smiling and laughing together for the camera as he casually discusses his role in the terror attacks, which killing more than 200 people.
“My mistake was to be involved with the Bali bombing,” he tells Governor Jalu Yuswa Panjang in the video.
“I told them I was against it, but the project was 95 percent finished.
“Nine hundred and fifty kilos of explosives were packed and ready, and they insisted on going ahead.”
The interview appears on Porong Prison’s own YouTube channel, where the prison governor and other authorities regularly post similar interviews with other inmates, including convicted terrorists.
The publication comes days after Patek was approved for parole, despite strong objections from the Australian government and outrage from Bali bomb survivors and victims’ families in Australia.
“This morning I joined our brother Umar Patek, our friend from Block F,” the governor says as he introduces the 20-minute video.
“Today we will talk to him about who exactly is Umar Patek? Many do not know. Maybe there are many women who want to know?”
Patek was a senior member of Jemaah Islamiah, the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group behind the Bali attacks.
He spent years working with terrorist groups in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Pakistan, returning to Indonesia only some time before the Bali attacks to introduce his Filipina wife to her family in Java.
“I didn’t come to Indonesia to join the Bali bomb project,” he tells the prison governor in the video.
“Even when I found out, I was very against it, I didn’t agree with it.
“At the time I asked the others what the reasons for the attack plan were. There were no reasons.”
But Jan Laczynski, a Melbourne man who lost five friends in the Bali attacks, doubted Patek’s claims.
“He’s saying all this in a high-security prison. It’s very different when you get out and mingle with all the people who originally brought him down this path,” he said.
Now 52, Patek has served only 10 years of an original 20-year sentence, but has had his prison term shortened with multiple remissions for good behavior.
His release from prison now depends on the Jakarta government signing the final paperwork.
He claimed he had been de-radicalised since he was jailed for his role in building the bombs that swept through the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar in October 2002, killing 202 people, including 88 Australians.
In the prison interview, he tells Governor Panjang, he wants to work with young convicted terrorists after he is released to help eliminate radicalism in Indonesia.
“I would like to work with millennials because they are the most likely to be infected by the virus of radicalism,” he says.
“I’d like to help the government educate people about the issue, for millennials and maybe terrorist inmates in prisons. I’m open to helping the general management of prisons or other institutions.”
If Patek is paroled, he said he planned to work with other reformed terrorists in Tenggulun, a village west of Surabaya where several other Bali terrorists came from.
Many believe that Patek could still pose a terrorist risk. (AFP: Adek Berry, file)
Tenggulun, once a base for radicalism, is now home to a national program aimed at ending Islamist extremism.
It is the town where the two executed terrorists, Amrozi and Mukhlas, grew up. A third brother, Ali Imron, is serving a life sentence.
The national program, called Circle of Peace, was founded by his younger brother Ali Fauzi, another former terrorist and member of Jemaah Islamiah who now works to de-radicalize others.
It is Ali Fauzi who claims to have deradicalized Patek after visiting him in prison for many years.
“Umar Patek agreed to leave his old world behind and turn over a new leaf,” he told the ABC.
“His release would be beneficial for society.
“I guarantee 100 percent that Umar will not commit any further terrorist actions and that he will continue to be involved in deradicalization programs.”
Indonesian authorities also believe that Patek is no longer a threat to society and can do more good outside of prison than inside.
But many others insist Patek could still pose a terror risk.
Muhamad Syauqillah, a terrorism expert in Jakarta, said about 10 percent of terrorists who are or say they are deradicalized may fall back into extremism once released.
He said authorities should continue to monitor them after they re-enter the community.
“Whether ex-prisoners re-engage with terrorism depends a lot on how the authorities manage de-radicalisation programs after their release,” he said.
“This process must continue and not stop when he is released.”
Laczynski said he was skeptical about granting parole to a convicted terrorist who committed the crimes Patek has committed.
“You are taking someone and a big leap of faith. Someone says they are all perfectly reformed, but they always say the same thing. They always say it in a high-security prison,” he said.
The government and prison authorities could announce any day when they plan to release Patek.
Porong Prison Governor Jalu Yuswa Panjang has supported Patek’s parole.
“I hope that what Umar has said, others can take as a good example,” he said in the taped interview.
“Prison is a miniature of how people live in society: life in prison can be supportive, people can live quietly and comfortably. Why can’t people outside live like that?”