Key Points
- Released Bali bomber Umar Patek has apologised for his role in the deadly bombings.
- He says he apologises, especially to Australians.
- Indonesian authorities have said Mr Patek was successfully reformed in prison.
Paroled Indonesian militant Umar Patek has said sorry for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings, but Australian man Jan Laczynski has described the situation as "obscene".
Patek was paroled last week after serving about half of his original 20-year prison sentence for making the explosives used in the Bali bombings, and has now offered an apology, directed "especially" to Australians.
Mr Laczynski, who lost five friends in the explosion, told SBS News he does not believe the apology was sincere.
"I wish he didn't make that apology... if he was genuinely insincere about making an apology, he'd be apologising 202 times and 88 times directly to the families of the Australians," he said.
"I don't accept that apology. This is an unforgivable crime."
Mr Laczynski described Patek's release as "obscene".
"I've already spoken to some families about this person and the despair they've got (over) the fact that he's got his freedom back, he's got his life back. ... these people, these Australians, will never get their lives back," he said.
"And for him to even be out in public is just obscene."
Hisyam bin Alizein, better known as Umar Patek, was a leading member of extremist group Jemaah Islamiah, which was blamed for the blasts at two nightclubs in Kuta Beach that killed 202 people including 88 Australians.
"I apologise not only to the people in Bali in particular but I also apologise to all Indonesian people," Patek told reporters while visiting former militant Ali Fauzi, a long-time friend who runs a program aimed at deradicalising militants in East Java's Tenggulun village.
"I also sincerely apologise especially to the Australians who also experienced a very great impact from the Bali bombing crime," Patek said.
"I also apologise to the victims and their families both at home and abroad, whatever their nationality, whatever their ethnicity, whatever their religion, I sincerely apologise to all of them."
Wearing a grey shirt and a Javanese traditional headgear, Patek received a warm welcome from his old friends, some of whom were former convicts who joined the deradicalisation program headed by Mr Fauzi.
Indonesian authorities have said Patek was successfully reformed in prison and they will use him to influence other militants to turn away from terrorism.
Patek is still being monitored and will have to participate in a mentoring program until his parole ends on 29 April 2030.
News in August of Patek's impending early release sparked outrage in Australia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described him as "abhorrent" and said his freedom would cause further distress to Australians who endured the trauma of the bombings.
Australia's objection prompted President Joko Widodo's administration to delay Patek's release while Indonesia hosted the Group of 20 summit last month.
Patek left Bali just before the attacks and spent nine years on the run that took him from Indonesia to the Philippines to Pakistan.
He was finally caught in January 2011 in Pakistan as he was hiding out in a second-floor room of a house in Abbottabad, a $1.5 million bounty on his head, when Pakistani security forces, acting on a tip from the CIA, burst in.
He was then extradited to Indonesia.
It was there that the kindness of police officers who helped get him medical treatment apparently began to chip away at his convictions about people he had long seen as the enemy.
He expressed remorse at his trial, saying he helped make the bombs but did not know how they would be used.
He also issued broad apologies, including to the victims' families, at that time.
