Indonesian ISIS supporters jailed over deadly Jakarta attack

JAKARTA, Indonesia – An Indonesian Islamic State group supporter was jailed for 10 years on Thursday, October 20, for helping make a bomb used in a deadly attack in Jakarta, as the country faces an increase in ISIS-linked assaults. 

Dodi Suridi, 23, was found guilty of committing an act of terror over his links to the attack in the Indonesian capital in January, which killed 4 assailants and 4 civilians and was claimed by ISIS. 

A second IS supporter, 48-year-old Ali Hamka, was also jailed for 4 years over the attack for trying to find guns and ammunition to use in the assault.

The attack – the first claimed by ISIS in Southeast Asia – saw dramatic scenes as a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Starbucks and security forces battled gun-toting militants. 

It was the first major attack in Indonesia in 7 years.

Asked whether he accepted the decision, Suridi was unrepentant and told the court: “That’s the risk of being a terrorist, I accept the verdict.”

As court officials led him away, he yelled “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is greatest”, and flashed a smile at journalists.

The world’s most populous Muslim-majority country has long struggled with Islamic militancy and Indonesians have flocked to fight with IS.

Also on Thursday, police shot dead a man carrying knives, suspected pipe bombs and an ISIS symbol after he launched an attack on officers near Jakarta.

Other ISIS-linked incidents this year include a foiled plan to launch a rocket at an up-market Singapore waterfront district from an Indonesian island and a botched suicide attack on a police station, which killed only the assailant.

Analysts believe the January 14 assault was organised by a militant group led by a jailed pro-ISIS cleric.

Suridi, who was arrested a day after the attack, altered a gas canister to be used as a bomb. 

The militant transported the canister and a casing for a pipe bomb to Jakarta, where he handed them to another man, who blew himself up as he attacked a police post during the assault. 

Although Suridi, who pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2014, did not directly participate in the assault, presiding Judge Achmad Fauzi said his actions had “disturbed the community and shaken the life of our nation”.

Hamka, who was jailed by the same court, did not manage to find any weapons to pass to the attackers but was found guilty of breaking anti-terror laws.

A number of people have been arrested over suspected involvement in the incident. 

The first conviction over the attack was in March when a 15-year-old boy was sentenced to three years in juvenile detention for harboring a man allegedly linked to the attack. – Rappler.com