バリ島爆弾攻撃の生き残り、被害者に謝罪 インドネシア

【ジャカルタＡＦＰ＝時事】インドネシア・バリ島で２０２人が死亡した爆弾事件から１２日で２０年を迎えた。実行犯でただ一人、生き残っているアリ・イムロン受刑者（５２）は、事件について謝罪をしている。ただ、遺族らには受け入れられていない。（写真はジャカルタで、インタビューに答えるアリ・イムロン受刑者）
　事件は２００２年、観光客に人気の町クタで起こった。国際テロ組織アルカイダとつながりがある国内のイスラム過激派組織ジェマ・イスラミアのメンバーが、バーやナイトクラブで爆弾を爆発させた。
　犠牲者のほとんどは、２０以上の国から訪れていた観光客だった。オーストラリア人が最も多く、８８人が亡くなった。
　ジェマ・イスラミアは、米国領事館にも爆弾攻撃を行ったが、被害者は出ていない。
　イムロン受刑者は、米領事館前に爆弾を設置した他、実行犯らの訓練を担当したとし、終身刑が言い渡されている。
　手錠が掛けられていない状態の同受刑者はＡＦＰのインタビューに対し「死ぬまで後悔するだろう。そして死ぬまで謝罪する」と述べた。
　だが、被害者やオーストラリア政府は、謝罪の受け入れを拒否している。攻撃で目に一生治らない障害を負ったティオリナ・マルパウンさん（４７）は「人は窮地に陥ると、そこから逃れるために何でも言うものだ」「彼は終身刑を言い渡されたのでそう言ったのだろう」と語った。
　イムロン受刑者は後悔の念を示すとともに、インドネシア政府が実施した脱過激化プログラムに協力したことが認められ、刑務所から薬物違反者用の施設に移された。
　同受刑者の兄弟２人は、ジャワ島沖の「監獄島」で銃殺刑に処された。イムロン受刑者は、深く反省し、捜査員に計画を打ち明けたことから、処刑を免れた。
　インドネシア政府は、爆弾製造を担当したウマル・パテック受刑者（禁錮２０年）については、早期釈放を検討した。刑期はまだ半分残っている。
　しかし、オーストラリアと遺族の反対を受け、釈放は先送りされている。
　イムロン受刑者も同様に、早期釈放が検討されることを望んでいる。今年、大統領恩赦を申請したが、返事は受け取っていない。
　政府がイムロン受刑者の早期釈放を検討しているとの情報はない。国家テロ対策庁や法務省、大統領顧問はコメントの要請に応じなかった。
　イムロン受刑者は、兄の命令に従っただけだと主張。「ジハード（聖戦）は間違った行為だった」と話す。これまでに少なくとも４００人の脱過激化プログラムに協力したほか、若者に寛容さを説く漫画キャンペーンを先導したと訴える。
　もし釈放されたら、脱過激化を後押しする活動を続けたいと言う。
　イムロン受刑者が本当に脱過激化したのかは、証拠が本人の言葉しかないため判断は難しい。爆弾攻撃について話す時は感情をほとんど示さず、自身が収監中の過激派メンバーであるにもかかわらず、過激派対策への協力について繰り返し強調した。
　それでもイムロン受刑者は、自分が影響を与えた人々に自身の行動は誤りだったと伝えたいと話す。「彼らに何度でも謝罪する」
　一方で、被害者のマルパウンさんは、早期釈放は認めないでほしいと訴える。「悔いている、自分は変わったと言うことはできるが、本当かどうかは神のみぞ知る、だ」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/10/13-13:12）

The last surviving bomber in the Bali blasts that killed more than 200 people two decades ago has expressed regret for the deadliest terror attack in Southeast Asia ahead of its 20th anniversary on Wednesday, but victims have rejected his apology.
Ali Imron was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the blasts that ripped through a nightclub and a bar on the Indonesian resort island, killing 202 people including 88 Australians.
I will regret it until I die. And I will apologise until I die, he told AFP uncuffed in front of an Indonesian flag and a picture of President Joko Widodo at Jakarta's sprawling metro police headquarters.
But victims and the Australian government have refused to accept the remorse of the remaining members of the Bali bomb cell.
When people are in a bind they will say anything to get out of the problem, said Thiolina Marpaung, a 47-year-old survivor left with permanent eye injuries.
He said that because he was sentenced to life.
Imron helped mastermind the bombings. He built the devices, planted a bomb outside the US consulate in Bali, and trained the attackers who detonated a suicide vest and a van loaded with explosives.
The 52-year-old is the only living Bali bomber still alive after the attack.
Now he languishes in a drug offenders' facility, instead of prison, after claiming repentance and aiding Indonesia's deradicalisation efforts.
His brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas were executed by firing squad on a central Javan prison island.
But Imron was saved from execution after showing remorse and divulging the plot to investigators.
The convicted mass murderer now helps the Indonesian government in a deradicalisation programme experts criticise for ineffectiveness.
- 'Justice cut short' -
Indonesia in August approved parole for Bali bombmaker Umar Patek. After his capture in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad in 2011, he claims to have rehabilitated after serving half of his 20-year sentence.
But Jakarta has held off freeing him after angering the Australian government.
We have made representations to the Indonesian Government about the release of individuals convicted for their role in the Bali bombings, noting the distress it would cause victims and families, an Australian department of foreign affairs and trade spokesperson told AFP.
Ultimately, these are matters for the Government of Indonesia and its domestic legal processes.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will attend a memorial ceremony Wednesday at Canberra's Bali consulate, an Australian diplomat told AFP.
Imron is hoping for a similar decision on his sentence. He said he submitted a request for a presidential pardon this year but received no response.
There have been no reports of Indonesian officials discussing his release.
Indonesia's National Counter Terrorism Agency, justice ministry and a presidential adviser did not respond to a request for comment.
While the programme's terms for an early release are strict ?- participants must pledge allegiance to Indonesia and disavow their networks -- the potential release of convicted mass murderers is highly controversial.
Experts are critical of leniency for militants like Imron who aligned with the now-banned Jemaah Islamiyah group, Al-Qaeda's much-diminished network in Indonesia.
How do they think? Nobody knows. You never know if it's sincere or not. But you have to look at the actions, said Sana Jaffrey, director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta.
Imron said he acted on the orders of his older brother following the US invasion of Afghanistan but now calls it a wrong act of jihad.
He claimed to have since helped deradicalise at least 400 jihadists. He has also fronted a comic book campaign that preached tolerance to young Indonesians.
If released, he said he would continue walking on the path of a deradicalisation campaign.
- 'Survival mechanism' -
It is a message analysts said Imron may be promoting in hope of securing an early release.
He was also speaking in the presence of an officer from Indonesia's elite counter-terrorism unit.
It's part of his survival mechanism. This is something he has to say, said Southeast Asian terrorism specialist Noor Huda Ismail.
It is hard to tell if Imron has truly deradicalised, with his word his only evidence.
He showed little emotion when speaking about the attack and sought to re-emphasise his counter-extremism work despite being a jailed extremist himself.
Whatever the case, Imron wants to tell the people whose lives he impacted that his actions were wrong.
I will always apologise profusely to them, he said.
But for Marpaung only God can judge Imron.
Please don't give a sentence cut, she said.
He can say that he has repented and he has changed, but only God truly knows the truth.