13 September,2018 07:18 PM IST | Jakarta | IANS
Representational Image
An Indonesian court on Thursday sentenced the provincial chief of a radical Islamist group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terror organization to 11 years in prison.
A court in Jakarta sentenced Wawan Kurniawan, alias Abu Afif, head of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) in Pekanbaru, capital of Riau province, for setting up a training centre for militants and instigating an attack on a provincial police station in May, Efe news reported.
A three-judge bench said that Abu Afif had prepared explosives and was arrested in possession of firearms.
The public prosecutor's office had sought 13 years for Abu Afif, who was arrested by the anti-terror unit Densus 88 in October 2017.
ALSO READ
Video shows NY officer fatally shooting 13-year-old
Mid-Day Top News: Maharashtra assembly polls likely only after Diwali and more
Congress: Centre insensitive to statehood restoration demand, will be poll issue
Yunus accuses Sheikh Hasina of destroying Bangladesh's institutions
Harris scared to do an interview on her own: Donald Trump's election campaign
Abu Afif was in prison during the JAD attack on the police station in Pekanbaru, on Sumatra island, in which four assailants and one police officer died.
JAD was founded in 2015 and the US State Department classified it as a global terrorist organization in January 2017.
Indonesia, where Muslims account for 88 per cent of the 260-million strong population, has seen several Islamist terror attacks, including one on the popular tourist resort island of Bali in 2002 that claimed 202 lives.
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates