Abu Bakar Ba'asyir: Bali bombing 'mastermind' released early from jail

image copyrightAl-Mukmin Islamic School

image captionAn image sent to BBC Indonesia of Ba'asyir (second from the right) in a vehicle with his family after being released early on Friday

Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, a radical Muslim cleric and alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings, has been freed.

His family picked him up from a jail on the outskirts of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, at 05:24 local time, a spokesperson told BBC Indonesia .

The 82-year-old is widely considered to be the spiritual leader of an al-Qaeda-inspired group that was blamed for the attack that killed 202 people.

He has been released after his sentence was cut short.

The decision has drawn mixed reactions in Indonesia as well as Australia, where most of the victims were from.

media captionGaril Arnandha, whose father died in the Bali bombings in 2002, met Ali Imron who is serving a life sentence for the attack

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