Latest news with #BaliBombings
News.com.au
a day ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Bali bomb maker Umar Patek launches business in Indonesia
A convicted terrorist and bombmaker in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people has launched a new business in Indonesia — claiming he is now 'brewing peace'. The news has been met with anger from the families of those who died in the bombing. Some 88 Australians lost their lives in the attack on two nightclubs in the popular tourist district of Kuta on Saturday night, October 12, 2002. On top of the 202 people who died, 240 others were injured. Umar Patek was on the run for almost a decade and was eventually tracked down in Pakistan in 2011 and arrested. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2012 but was released from jail in Java, Indonesia on parole in December 2022 after serving 11 years. The early release was slammed by Australian officials. Now, he is opening a coffee business. Patek told the South China Morning Post 's This Week in Asia about his 'Coffee RAMU 1966 by Umar Patek' venture. 'Before, I was known for something that hurt the world,' he said. 'Now I have chosen a different path.' Hedon Estate, a restaurant in Surabaya, Indonesia, has helped Patek launch the business. Patek said the owner had donated equipment to make the coffee and they would stock his products. He told This Week in Asia that the move was about starting a new life. 'Once, I concocted bombs, and now I concoct coffee,' Patek said. Hedon Estate will host the launch of RAMU 1966 by Umar Patek on Tuesday. The restaurant has posted promotional videos with Patek on social media. One caption, translated to English, reads: 'He was known for the wounds he left, now he is remembered for the aroma of coffee he brewed. 'His life's journey is not about a dark past, but about the courage to change and choose a path that brings peace. One man, one cup of coffee, and a million new hopes.' On Patek's prison release in 2022, Indonesia said Patek had participated in the country's deradicalisation program and earned remissions for good behaviour. Then Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said Patek's release was an 'absolutely horrible day for the victims of the Bali bombings'. Australian Sandra Thompson, whose 29-year-old son Clint Thompson died in the bombings, reacted to the news of Patek's new business. 'Has this man repented? Does he still think what he did was morally right? Or has he just served a sentence then moved on?' she told This Week in Asia. 'Two hundred and two lives plus an unborn baby and survivors still living with the effects of their injuries. Has he paid for that? Never, if he has no remorse.' Patek has previously labelled himself 'a murderer and a sinner' and said he has apologised to victims open to hearing him. 'Everyone who has met with me in person has forgiven me,' Patek claimed in a Q&A for Al Jazeera in 2023. 'When I meet victims, I say, 'I am Umar Patek and I was involved in the Bali bombing,' then I explain why I was there, and apologise.' He added: 'I did not say sorry to get out of prison early, but everything is always wrong in other people's eyes. If I say sorry, people say I am pretending and it is a strategic choice. If I didn't apologise, people would say I was arrogant.'
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Bali bomb maker sparks outrage with new business venture: 'I was known for hurting the world, but now I choose another way'
The chief explosive maker in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people - including 88 Australians - has launched a new business after his early release from prison. Convicted terrorist Umar Patek, who helped build the devastating car bomb that was positioned outside two nighspots in the tourist hub of Kuta Beach, was released from jail in 2022. Having been released after serving 11 years of a 20-year sentence, Patek uses his part in the deadly attacks as part of his marketing for a new coffee roasting business. 'I was known for hurting the world, but now I choose another way,' he said in a video posted on the company's social media. 'The bitter taste used to destroy, now the bitterness heals. 'It's not just coffee, its change, choosing a new life.' The move has angered loved ones including Sandra Thompson who lost her son Clint Thompson. The promising rugby league player was a president of the Coogee Dolphins rugby squad that was caught up in the bombings while on an end-of-season trip. Six of them never came home. 'Has this man repented? Does he still think what he did was morally right? Or has he just served a sentence then moved on?' his mother Sandra Thompson told China Today. 'Two hundred and two lives plus an unborn baby and survivors still living with the effects of their injuries. Has he paid for that? Never, if he has no remorse.' Ms Thompson says she cannot forgive the atrocities of that day. 'I thought I had forgiven, then another one is allowed to live a normal life,' she said. 'A life he took from all those families. My life has never been the same.' Once the world's most wanted men, Patek left Bali just before the attacks and spent nine years on the run across Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan. He was released despite strong objections by Australia and a plea to the Indonesian government to make him serve his full sentence. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described him as 'abhorrent' and said his release would cause further distress those Australians who endured the trauma of the bombings Indonesian authorities have said Patek was successfully reformed in prison and they will use him to influence other militants to turn away from terrorism. Australian Jan Laczynski, who lost five friends in the bombings, spoke of his anger after Pateks early release. 'This guy gets his life back again. For a lot of us we'll never get our lives back again,' he said at the time. 'It's appalling. It's dreadful. It's wrong.' 'I've seen him in jail, I've seen him close up. He didn't seem de-radicalised to me.... I don't buy that at all.' Patek claims he initially struggled to find work due to his past as 'no one wanted to hire a convicted criminal'. However, after mentioning his desire to own a business in an interview with Indonesian media the owner of Hedon Estate restaurant reached out. 'I was donated the equipment that I needed to make the coffee and they said they would stock my products in the cafe,' he said. 'I thought it was so humanitarian of them to help me, particularly as the owner of the cafe is not Muslim. I hope that my new business will be a success and I will be able to be independent again.' The launch of his new coffee beans is planned for Tuesday in a small cafe in Surabaya in East Java around 400km from Bali. Patek said his brand's name Ramu is both a reversal of his own first name and a word which also means 'to concoct' in Bahasa Indonesia. He also addressed the backlash around his supposed reformation and release. 'If I apologise, people say that I am pretending and being strategic,' he said. 'If I don't apologise people will say I am arrogant and don't care. So everything is always wrong. 'This is not just about coffee. It is about change. It is about me choosing a new life.' The Bali boming attackers targeted a busy tourist strip on a Saturday night. The first explosion at Kuta was caused by a suicide bomber in Paddy's bar and the second by a bomb in a van parked outside the Sari Club. The victims were citizens of more than 20 countries, with Australia suffering the largest loss of life. Thirty-nine Indonesians, including many who worked in the tourism industry, also died. Hundreds more people were wounded.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Bali bomber Umar Patek seeks a second chance by ‘brewing peace' with coffee
In a quiet cafe in Surabaya, the scent of freshly brewed coffee drifts through the air – a far cry from the sulphur and smoke that once defined Umar Patek's past. 'Before, I was known for something that hurt the world,' he told This Week in Asia. 'Now I have chosen a different path.' Patek was once one of the most wanted men on the planet for the role he played in the Bali bombings that left hundreds dead over two decades ago. Now, the convicted bomber is brewing something else entirely: peace, he says – and a second chance. He plans to unveil his new coffee business, 'RAMU Coffee 1966 by Umar Patek', on Tuesday in the Indonesian city of Surabaya, in a symbolic departure from the years he spent on the run, in hiding and behind bars. Now, I am brewing flavours and brewing peace Umar Patek, former bomb-maker 'Now, I am brewing flavours and brewing peace,' he said, seated at the Hedon Estate cafe that will be the first to stock his beans, sold both whole and ground. 'Before, bitterness used to destroy, now [the] bitterness [of coffee] heals.'
