JAKARTA (AFP) — Ten people jailed over the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings were among 50,000 Indonesian prisoners Saturday hoping for sentence cuts to mark the major Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, official media reported.
The 10 were among thousands of inmates recommended by provincial justice offices for sentence reductions traditionally granted to celebrate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
"The decision of the (justice) minister has not yet been received as to whether the proposal has been accepted or rejected," the head of the Kerobokan jail in Bali, Ilham Djaja, was quoted by the state Antara news agency as saying.
The 10 jailed for minor involvement in the 2002 bombings that killed 202 people and the 2005 attacks that killed 20 were proposed for sentence reductions of between 30 and 45 days.
Four others sentenced to life or the death penalty for the bombings on the resort island were not eligible for remission, Djaja said.
They include the three key bombers -- Imam Samudra and brothers Amrozi and Ali Ghufron -- who are on death row for their roles in the October 12, 2002 attacks which killed mainly foreign tourists, including 88 Australians.
Although they remain under Bali's jurisdiction, the three have been moved to the high-security Nusakambangan jail off the south coast of Central Java.
Achmad Michdan, the lawyer of the three, told AFP he had no report about what the three did on Saturday but said the authorities had approved a list of 30 of their relatives who will be allowed to visit them in jail on October 17.
The three are awaiting execution following the Supreme Court's rejection last month of their demand for a case review.
The fourth is Ali Imron, another brother, who was spared the death penalty after he expressed remorse and cooperated with police.
Both the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings and a series other attacks have been blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah Islamic extremist network.
Indonesian authorities traditionally grant sentence cuts to mark major religious holidays and independence day.
A total of 335 inmates in jails across Bali, including six involved in the 2002 bombings and four in the 2005 attacks, have been put on the list of people proposed for sentence cuts to mark Eid al-Fitr which fell on Saturday.
Records showed that on independence day on August 17, the same 10 involved in the bomb attacks had their sentences cut by between two and five months.
Djaja said that with the exception of those on death row or serving life sentences, all other prisoners were eligible for sentence cuts if they had behaved well and the request was approved by the justice ministry.
Untung Sugiono, the director general for penitentiary affairs, has said that about 52,317 of the country's 79,000 inmates may be granted sentence cuts to mark Eid this year.
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