IS sympathiser who devised Indonesian attack plot sentenced to 11 years in prison
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, has waged a sustained crackdown on violent jihadis since the 2002 Bali bombings
An Indonesian militant linked to Islamic State (IS) smiled and raised one finger toward heaven after a court on Wednesday sentenced him to 11 years in prison for leading a plot to attack a presidential guard-changing ceremony in Jakarta.
At the same sentencing hearing, a co-conspirator, who received six years in prison, shook his fist in the air and shouted “God is Great.”
Muhammad Nur Solihin, the ring leader, and Agus Supriyadi were arrested along with two other militants including Solihin’s wife in December, just one day before their planned attack on the popular family attraction at the presidential palace.
In its verdict at the East Jakarta District Court, a three-judge panel said there was no justification for either man’s actions and both were guilty of violating Indonesia’s anti-terror law.
The would-be suicide bomber, Solihin’s wife Dian Yulia Novi, was sentenced last month to seven-and-a-half years in prison. Another woman, Tutin, received three-and-a-half years for encouraging Novi to become a suicide bomber.
The apparently unrepentant militants are indicative of the challenge facing Indonesian authorities who have imprisoned hundreds of Islamic radicals in the past decade for plots and attacks. After serving their sentences, many emerge from the country’s overcrowded prisons with an even greater commitment to violent radicalism and new links to other militants.