‘No jihadist who caused so much death should be freed early’: Tory MP Tobias Ellwood begs Indonesia not to release Bali bombmaker who killed more than 200 people – including his brother – at two nightclubs in 2002 atrocity

• Commons defence committee chair slams killer’s ‘astonishing’ chance at parole
• Tobias Ellwood lost his brother Jon in a nightclub bombing that killed 202 people
• The 39-year-old history teacher who worked in Vietnam travelled for conference
• Bombmaker Umar Patek has served just ten years – but could now be freed 

Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood has pleaded with the government of Indonesia not to free the bombmaker behind terrorist attacks that killed 202 people – including his history teacher brother.

Jon Ellwood, who died aged 39 in the Bali nightclub blast in October 2002, worked at a school in Vietnam. 

He was in Bali to attend a conference – but was killed, alongside 22 other Britons, in the suicide bombing. The killers’ explosive vests were built by Umar Patek.

The terrorist, whose real name is Hisyam bin Ali Zein, was part of al Qaeda-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah.

MP Tobias Ellwood (pictured by the Churchill War Rooms last month) pleaded with Indonesia

Patek (pictured in 2012)  is now eligible for parole after serving just half his 20-year sentence

He is now eligible for parole after serving just half his 20-year sentence handed in 2012.

Jon Ellwood taught at a school in Vietnam and was in Bali to attend a conference in 2002

Patek escaped the death penalty after apologising to his victims’ families and cooperating with a police investigation. 

Commons defence committee chair Ellwood told The Telegraph: ‘I find this an astonishing and galling decision by Indonesia as bereaved families very soon mark exactly 20 years since the bombs he helped make took the innocent lives of over 200 loved ones in Bali.

‘No responsible state, committed to tackling terrorism, would allow a jihadi bombmaker, responsible for such a large-scale loss of human life to be released early.

‘I strongly urge the Indonesian president to intervene and keep Patek behind bars.’

The Indonesian government typically reduces sentences and frees criminals on its independence day, which came on Wednesday. Patek saw his sentence cut by five months.

According to Indonesian authorities, Patek has ‘behaved very well’ while serving his sentence and ‘regrets his radical past’.

Alleged Bali bombing mastermind Encep Nurjaman is currently held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in advance of his trial.

Along with 23 Britons, 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians were killed when three bombs detonated at the tourist hotspot on October 12, 2002.

MP Ellwood is pictured with sister Totty at the scene after securing the release of Jon’s body

Three organised bombings on October 12, 2002 took the lives of 88 Australians and 23 Britons

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