Author: AP
Publication: The Taipei Times
Date: October 25, 2006
URL: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2006/10/25/2003333250
Two Islamic militants jailed for the Bali
bombings that killed 202 people were freed yesterday and nine others had their
sentences reduced to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month, officials
said.
Indonesia traditionally cuts prison terms
for inmates who exhibit good behavior on national holidays and the justice
ministry said more than 43,000 convicts benefited this time.
But the decision to include convicted terrorists
was likely to anger countries that lost citizens in the Oct. 12, 2002, attacks
on two crowded nightclubs.
"After what I've survived, to see these
people get rewarded ... it's something we Westerners just don't understand,"
said Australian Peter Hughes, who suffered burns over 54 percent of his body.
"I hate to think what the families of
the victims who died are going through," he said.
Mujarod bin Salim and Sirojul Munir, who were
convicted of hiding two of the masterminds of the suicide bombings, had up
to 45 days shaved from their five-year sentences.
Bin Salim walked free from the main prison
on Bali yesterday afternoon, said warden Ilham Jaya, and Munir left the jail
in East Kalimantan's capital of Balikpapan several hours earlier.
"I'm happy that I'll be able to spend
time with my family again," said Munir, adding he had nothing to do with
the attacks and could only pray he would not be stigmatized by his time in
jail.
Nine others convicted of minor roles in the
bombings -- from withholding information that could have helped police to
helping finance the strikes -- also had one-and-a-half months cut from their
sentences. The government says three militants on death row for the Bali attacks
-- Amrozi, Ali Gufron and Imam Samudra -- and three others sentenced to life
are not eligible for the sentence reductions.