Lawyer Defends That Abu Bakar Baasyir is Eligible for Parole

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Muslim Lawyers Team (TPM) representing terrorist convict Abu Bakar Baasyir compared the legal disparity of its client to the former boss of Century Bank Robert Tantular.

TPM leader Mahendradatta said that the remission granted to both men were too far apart considering the number of cases both convicts are incriminated with. He also highlighted the remission Baasyir received compared to his total prison sentence.

“Robert Tantular received a 77-month remission,” said Mahendradatta on Tuesday, January 22. He asserted that Baasyir’s 15-year prison sentence for terrorism is only eligible to receive a maximum of 20-month remission.

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Robert Tantular was sentenced to 21 years of imprisonment and with the remission that he received meant that he effectively spent 10 years behind bars. This became Mahendradatta’s basis to argue that Baasyir could have been freed if he was granted the same amount of remission as Robert.

Abu Bakar Baasyir initially was sentenced to 15 years in prison after court proved his involvement in the terrorist training camp located in Aceh. He initially spent prison time at Nusakambangan before being transferred to the Gunung Sindur penitentiary in Bogor, West Java.

Mahendradatta asserts that Abu Bakar Baasyir is entitled to be granted parole in December 2018 and expressed his concern his client’s right for parole is being withheld by the government.

“But why is he being imprisoned until now, what is the legal basis of that and [where is the so-called driven by humanitarian reasons],” said Mahendradatta.

AHMAD RAFIQ