June 22
INDONESIA:
Indonesia hands death sentence to Islamic State-linked cleric for militant
attacks
An Indonesian court on Friday sentenced to death a cleric linked to Islamic
State, for masterminding from his jail cell a string of deadly militant attacks
across the world's largest Muslim-majority country.
The ruling comes as Indonesia struggles to rein in a rising tide of homegrown
militancy, inspired in part by the extremist group Islamic State, with
parliament approving tougher anti-terrorism laws last month.
Aman Abdurrahman, 46, is considered the ideological leader of Jemaah Ansharut
Daulah (JAD) - a loose grouping of Islamic State sympathizers in Indonesia.
"The court sentences the defendant to death," said the judge, Ahmad Zaini,
adding that Abdurrahman had been proved guilty of "carrying out terrorism".
Abdurrahman bowed and touched his forehead to the floor on hearing the verdict,
but did not respond to the judge's query whether he would appeal against the
ruling.
He was convicted of planning a 2016 gun-and-bomb attack in the heart of
Jakarta, the capital, that killed 8 people, including 4 attackers.
Abdurrahman was also proved to be behind a suicide attack last year that killed
3 police officers at a Jakarta bus station and the bombing of a church in
Samarinda on Borneo island that wounded 4 children.
He was serving a sentence in a maximum security prison at the time.
Abdurrahman's defence team told reporters the sentence was "too harsh".
"He himself does not have the desire to appeal because he does not recognise
the court or Indonesian laws," said Asludin Hatjani, a lawyer for Abdurrahman,
adding that the defence team had a week to consider filing an appeal.
Earlier, dozens of masked and heavily armed police officers stood guard as
Abdurrahman, handcuffed and wearing an orange prison jacket over a blue shirt
and black trousers, was escorted into the South Jakarta courthouse by
counter-terrorism officers.
Security experts have raised concerns that a harsh penalty for the cleric could
trigger retaliatory attacks by followers.
"The verdict provides moral support for the counter-terrorism community, but it
will also make Abdurrahman a martyr to the jihadist community, whether he is
executed or allowed to spend years on death row," Concord Consulting, a risk
advisory group based in Jakarta, said in a note.
Suicide bombings last month in Indonesia's 2nd largest city of Surabaya that
killed more than 30 people and were carried out by families with young
children, were linked to JAD cells and were the country's deadliest in nearly 2
decades.
The U.S. State department says the JAD grouping is a "terrorist" organisation
linked to numerous attacks.
(source: Reuters)
*************
Indonesian terror leader Aman Abdurrahman 'grateful' for death penalty
An Indonesian court has sentenced radical Islamic cleric Aman Abdurrahman to
death by firing squad for inspiring his followers to commit a wave of terror
attacks.
Judge Ahmad Zaini handed down the death penalty at South Jakarta District Court
on Friday.
The cleric, also known as Oman Rochman, was on trial for ordering 5 terror
attacks carried out by Islamic State-inspired militants known as JAD between
2016-17, including the 2016 Jakarta bombing.
Abdurrahman is considered JAD's de facto leader. JAD or JAT, Jemaah Anshorut
Tauhid, is a splinter cell of Jemaah Islamiyah, the group responsible for the
Bali bombing in 2002 and the attack on the Australian embassy in 2004.
A statement from the panel of 5 judges said: "the defendant's religious
outreach inspired his followers to commit terrorism so the defendant must take
responsibility."
After the judgement, Abdurrahman immediately stood up, faced the rows of
journalists sitting behind him and bowed his head down as if in gratitude.
Armed guards quickly surrounded him to block cameras from capturing the
gesture.
His lawyer Asludin Hatjani told journalists: "we can translate that as being
grateful."
Abdurrahman then told the judge he did not accept nor reject the sentence.
Mr Hatjani told the court they would consider what legal steps to take, though
Abdurrahman waved his hand, apparently rejecting that statement.
Judge Zaini said they have 7 days to accept, reject or appeal the sentence.
In addition to the Jakarta bombing that killed 4 civilians, Abdurrahman was
found guilty of masterminding a bus terminal bombing in Kampung Melayu, a
church bombing that killed 1 child and burnt several in Samarinda, the stabbing
of a police officer in Medan and the shooting of a police officer in Bima, all
in 2017.
Indonesian prosecutors had called for the death penalty in May.
Prosecutor Anita Dewayani, said at the time: "the defendant is legally and
convincingly guilty and we demand the panel of judges to impose death
sentence."
Friday's sentence is the 1st death penalty in 13 years given in a terrorism
case.
The last was issued to Iwan Darmawan Muntho, also known as Rois, for his
involvement in the Australian embassy bombing.
Centre for Radicalism and De-radicalism Studies director Adhe Bhakti said he
feared Abdurraham's followers may retaliate after the verdict.
"Definitely they will be because the man's words were capable of inciting
people to commit terrorism, let alone if this man is executed," he said.
"They may carry out violent acts.
"But I'm sure security people will increase security measures and I think all
intelligence agencies should also increase better coordination."
(source: Sydney Morning Herald)
THAILAND:
URGENT ACTION: MORE AT RISK AS THAILAND RESUMES EXECUTIONS (Thailand: UA
119.18)
Thai prison authorities carried out the country's 1st execution in nearly a
decade on 18 June 2018. Amnesty International fears that others on death row
may be at imminent risk after receiving unconfirmed reports that prisoners have
in recent weeks had their applications for a royal pardon rejected.
TAKE ACTION
Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:
Expressing your deep concern at the execution of Theerasak Longji on 19 June
and the lack of notice to his family, and urging the Thai authorities to halt
any plans to carry out further executions;
Asking them to commute all existing death sentences and establish an immediate
moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty;
Expressing regret at the setback that the resumption of executions represents
for Thailand's human rights record and highlighting that 2/3 of the world's
countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice
Contact these 2 officials by 2 August, 2018:
Prime Minister of Thailand
Prayut Chan-o-cha,
Government House, Pissanulok Road,
Dusit, Bangkok 10300, Thailand
Fax: +66 2 288 4323
Email: spmwebs...@thaigov.go.th
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister
Ambassador Virachai Plasai
Royal Embassy of Thailand
1024 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: 202 944 3600 -- Fax: 1 202 944 3611
Contact form: http://thaiembdc.org/contact/
Twitter: @ThaiEmbDC
Salutation: Dear Ambassador
(source: Amnesty Intrnational USA)
_______________________________________________
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