The recent release from prison of dozens of terrorists in Indonesia, has sparked concern that this may be a prelude to a new wave of attacks. "They served their time according to the law and there is not much that can be done about it," Ken Conboy, a seasoned expert on terrorism in the region told Adnkronos International (AKI). "It is right that they are released but the danger of them falling back into terrorism is real," he said. Dozens of terrorists arrested in Indonesia in the past few years were released in the past few months after they had served their short sentences in the prisons of Jakarta. Among them was Abu Rusdan, who experts believe is the one who took control of the regional terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) after the arrest of their spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir in 2002. According to the Indonesian police, Rusdan himself was succeeded by Abu Dujana as the leader of the group.
"Dujana has been known for a while but I am not too sure whether he is the new operative head of the group," said Conboy who is also the author of a book entitled “The Second Front: Inside Jemaah Islamiyah”, a book that traces the recent history of the Asian terrorist organisation, which has links to the al-Qaeda network.
Like Abu Rusdan, who was released on good behaviour in January after serving three and a half years in jail for having hidden one of the fugitives of the 2002 Bali Bombings, tens of other convicted terrorists are now at large. "There are lots of them who are being released. The Indonesian intelligence does not have the resources to follow them all," said Conboy, stressing yet againt that the "danger is high". In an attempt to ease public concern, the Indonesian police said that all those released are still being closely monitored.
Conboy is however not particularly concerned about the imminent release of Abu Bakar Bashir, the radical cleric and spiritual leader of JI and was condemned to 30 months in prison for having "instigated" that attacks in Bali in 2002 which killed more than 200 people. After a series of remissions of his jai sentence, Bashir will be freed later this year in June. "Bashir has never been directly involved in running the organization. If anything, he is the ideologist and whether in prison or out it does not make much difference," said Conboy.