Indonesia: First Convicts in Jakarta Attack Sentenced

An Indonesian court on Thursday convicted and handed jail terms to the first two suspects prosecuted in connection with a deadly terrorist attack in Jakarta nine months ago.

Dodi Suridi, 23, who was accused of supplying parts for and helping assemble one of the bombs used in the Jan. 14 attack claimed by Islamic State (IS), was sentenced to 10 years for violating Indonesia’s anti-terrorism laws.

“The defendant is proven guilty for conspiring to commit terrorism and providing material support for terrorism,” ruled Judge Ahmad Fauzi who presided over the trial held at West Jakarta District Court.

Ali Hamka, 48, who had been arrested a month before the attack but was linked to the suspects, received a four-year term for serving as a middle-man.

The plot resulted in the deaths of eight people in central Jakarta, including the four men who carried it out. At least 40 people have been taken into custody for alleged links to the first act of terror claimed by IS on Indonesian soil.

The two men were sentenced the same day that Indonesian police shot and killed a suspected supporter of IS, after the knife-wielding man injured three police officers and threw pipe bombs that did not explode during an attack in Tangerang, a satellite city of Jakarta, according to reports.

A police spokesman said the attacker stuck an Islamic State (IS) sticker on a traffic post before attacking the officers.

IS, through its Amaq News Agency, claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack, according to SITE Intelligence, a U.S.-based group that monitors extremist communications online.

‘It’s the risk I have to take’

Dodi was arrested the day after the Jakarta attack in Orimalang village, West Java province.

Prosecutors said he was responsible for buying a gas canister and turning it into a casing for a bomb that exploded near a police post during the attack.

“The defendant was informed that the gas canister would be used as a bomb casing, and he still followed the order,” the judge said.

That order came from Adi Wijaya on Jan. 7, prosecutors allege. The men met on the social media site Telegram.

Investigators determined that Adi had been in touch with Muhammad Ali, 40, one of the militants who was killed during the attack. The trial revealed that they met several times before the attack.

Prosecutors claim that Ali ordered Dodi to pick up pipes to make the bomb in Tegal, West Java, in December 2015. Both men attended a meeting in Tegal a month before launching the attack.

Leaving the courtroom, Dodi said he accepted the ruling.

“It’s the risk I have to take for being a terrorist. I accept the sentence,” he said, then shouted, “Allahu Akbar!”

Gun Supplier

Ali Hamka was arrested by Densus 88, the national anti-terror squad, in December in Sumedang, West Java. He was charged with serving as a middleman between Muhammad Ali and gun supplier Dadang Kumis.

Muhammad Ali failed to purchase guns from Dadang in September 2015, but the judges determined that Ali Hamka was guilty of conspiring to commit terrorism and providing material support for terrorism.

“He knew gun possession by members of the public is strictly prohibited in this country, but he still carried out his attempt,” Judge Maha Nikmah said.

While the sentence was shorter than the six years sought by prosecutors, Ali Hamka said he was considering whether to appeal.

“I have to carefully think about it,” he said.

He has one week to challenge the sentence.

JAT leader

The trial revealed that Ali Hamka is a leader of Indramayu chapter of Jamaah Ansorut Tauhid (JAT), an extremist group led by Abu Bakar Bashir, the radical Islamic cleric who recently lost an appeal against his 2011 conviction for financing a militant training camp.

As the chapter leader, Ali Hamka was responsible for recruiting new members and he aided the Eastern Indonesia Mujahiddin (MIT), a militant group that pledged allegiance to IS. He sent his son, Musa Al Kosam, to Poso, Central Sulawesi, to help MIT militants.

“His affiliation with a terrorist organization is another attempt of conspiring to commit terrorism and providing material support for terrorism,” the judge said.

Earlier this month, an East Jakarta court sentenced Arif Hidayatullah, a top deputy of Bahrun Naim, to six years in prison. Bahrun, an Indonesian national who is in Syria fighting for IS, is considered the mastermind of the Jakarta terror attack.