Indonesian bomb maker Umar Patek, who has completed at least half of a 20-year prison sentence and may be up for parole this month, made the remark in an interview with a prison official that was uploaded on YouTube on Saturday before being removed on Monday.
Counterterrorism officials have touted Umar as a deradicalization success story, but news of his impending release has outraged people and officials in neighboring Australia.
In an interview from inside the Porong Prison in Sidoarjo regency, East Java, Umar said that after his potential release, he hoped to educate Indonesian youths about the danger of religious extremism.
"My mistake was to be involved with the Bali bombing," Umar said in the video, about the Oct. 12, 2002 terror attack.
"It was like a prank, you know?"
Rika Aprianti, a spokeswoman for the Directorate General of Corrections at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, declined to comment on the video while confirming Umar had regretted his actions.
"One of the assessments is that the inmates, while serving their sentence, know that they have made a mistake and regret it," Rika told BenarNews on Monday.
Umar could be released this month after he received a five-month sentence reduction on Aug. 17, Indonesia’s 77th Independence Day. Rika declined to provide exact information on when Umar may be freed.
"The parole program is still in process," she said.
If parole is not granted, Umar could remain enjugged
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
until 2029, according to media reports.
Umar, whose real name is Hisyam bin Ali Zein, was arrested in Pakistain in 2011 and tried in Indonesia. In 2012, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison instead of receiving the death penalty
. Umar’s Filipina wife was granted Indonesian citizenship in 2019, with authorities at the time saying the move was a reward for his good behavior behind bars.
"He is an example to fellow inmates both in terrorism and other cases, and also appeals to those outside to return to the right path," Suhardi Alius, who was leader of the National Counterterrorism Agency, told BenarNews back then.