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Indonesian prosecutors ask court to ban Jemaah Islamiah
Indonesian prosecutors demanded a local court on Wednesday to outlaw the Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah.
- Reuters
- Published: 17:25 March 26, 2008
Jakarta: Indonesian prosecutors demanded a local court on Wednesday to outlaw the Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah.
Jemaah Islamiah has been blamed for a string of deadly attacks in recent years, including the 2002 Bali bombings in which 202 people were killed.
It is the first time that prosecutors have asked a court to ban the group.
Police in several countries have linked JI to Al Qaida but Indonesian authorities have argued they cannot ban the group since since it is not an established, structured organisation.
The demand to outlaw JI, which is listed by the United Nations as a terrorist group, was made during the trial of one of its suspected leaders, Abu Dujana, who was arrested in June last year.
"We demand the panel of judges...declare Jemaah Islamiah an illegal organisation," chief prosecutor Payaman told the hearing at the South Jakarta district court.
A recent jailbreak by a JI member in Singapore has revived fears the Islamic militant group could plot attacks against Western interests in the region again.
Prosecutors asked the South Jakarta district court to sentence Dujana to life, saying he was guilty of involvement in a criminal conspiracy to carry out terrorism.
Prosecutors in a separate hearing sought a life sentence for Zarkasih, the chief of Jemaah Islamiyah. He was arrested in June.
The prosecution accused Dujana of authorising the shipping of firearms and explosives to the Poso region on Sulawesi island where a conflict between Christians and Muslims killed about 2,000 people at the start of the decade.
The charge sheet also alleged that Dujana, who has confessed to leading JI's military wing in the past, harboured other fugitive militants and provided financial support for "terrorism".
Dujana has said that charges against him are false and that he is a victim of injustice.
"This trial is not intended to prove truth, but on the contrary it demonstrates lies. I am not a JI member," he told the court.
Police arrested Dujana, 38, in a town in Central Java in June and at the time described him as their most wanted man.
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