Bashir, 82, one of Indonesia’s best-known extremists, is considered the spiritual leader of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network. He was arrested in 2011 for his links to militant training camps in Aceh province.
Bashir will be released on Friday “according to the expiration date and the end of his term,” Rika Aprianti, a spokeswoman for the General Directorate of Corrections within the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, said in a statement.
Jemaah Islamiah is accused of planning several large-scale attacks in Indonesia and includes trained agents in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the southern Philippines.
Its members are accused of orchestrating the 2002 bombings of nightclubs in Bali, which killed more than 200 people, including dozens of Australians, and an attack on the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which killed 12 people a year later.
Bashir has denied any involvement in the Bali attacks. A lawyer for Bashir did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on his forthcoming release.
Security analyst Ridlwan Habib said that although Bashir’s stature had weakened, extremists could try to associate their activities with him to gain traction and increase their credibility.
“Bashir is a leading figure in the jihadist movement in Indonesia and it is not impossible that his big name can be used,” he said.
While calling for re-election in January 2019, President Joko Widodo considered an early release for Bashir for health reasons, but canceled the plan after Bashir refused to promise loyalty to the Indonesian state’s ideology.