Australia's prime minister said on Tuesday he would be disappointed if radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir were released from prison early and urged Indonesia to show respect for the victims of the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that the firebrand preacher inspired.
Indonesia's top security minister, Wiranto, said on Monday that Indonesian President Joko Widodo had asked him to coordinate a review of all aspects of the planned release of the 80-year-old cleric following domestic and international criticism.
Australia has been in top-level discussions with the Indonesia since last week when the decision was announced to release Bashir, the spiritual leader of bombers who attacked nightclubs on Bali island and that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia would protest if Bashir were released early as planned, after serving nine years of a 15-year sentence.
"I would obviously be very disappointed about that like other Australians would and will register that disappointment and quite strong feelings about that," Morrison told 4CA Radio in the Australian city of Cairns.
"We don't want this character able to go out there and incite the killing of
Australians and Indonesians, preaching a doctrine of hate," Morrison added. Morrison told Indonesia "respect must be shown for the lives of those who are lost."
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