Anger at the Release of Bashir: Indonesia

I could never come to near to imagining how the parents and family members of the Bali bombing victims feel about the release of Abu Bakar Bashir yesterday.

88 Australians died in the blasts and many believe that Bashir should have served 25 years jail for every one of those victims. The bombings in 2002 were not only an act of cowardice, but an assault on the freedom of those who lost their lives. I say cowardice because the perpetrators of this evil deed fled like scuttled rats, and, assault on the freedom of the victims because they were only doing what they liked, enjoying life.

Understandably many of the victims relatives are irate at the release of Bashir. The mother of a Bali bombing victim has condemned the release from an Indonesian prison of the man jailed for giving his blessing to the 2002 terrorist attack. Monica Sanderson who lost her then 26 year old son Greg in the attack was doing everything she could to avoid the pain of seeing the man, who has been accused of being the spiritual head of the terrorist group blamed for the attacks, on TV or in the newspapers

Brian Deegan whose 22 year old son Josh died in the attack has been urging the Australian Government to seek a tougher penalty for Bashir. But he says he is now powerless to influence the outcome. He was quoted as saying "I've taken the view that I will fight what I can and but I've also got to accept that if I can’t succeed then there's no point in trying to battle on and this is one of those instances".

And others voiced their opinions. Gold Coast man Glenn Cosman who survived the bombings said he is disappointed the cleric has walked free. "Very disappointed in it there's obviously nothing they can do with their legal system about it" he said. "Very sad to see that he's out there again."

Two years ago I met Spike Stewart, whose son Anthony died in Bali, and today he said Bashir's release is adding to the grief of the victims. "Now they go and do this to them and then what happens, they let the bloke responsible go or give their blessing".

It was not only Australians that lost their lives in 2002, there were souls from other countries. And no doubt the families of these souls will be feeling anger too at the release of Bashir.

What we can do however is to support those who lost a loved one in 2002 and look to a brighter future when travelling to Bali. We cannot and must not forget those Balinese who also died in the blasts and those that survived who are trying to earn a living in Bali now. They too need our support.