Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), the ISIS-linked organization accused of being behind May’s horrific suicide bombings in Surabaya and the deadly attack in Thamrin, Jakarta in January 2016, was officially classified by the South Jakarta District Court as a “forbidden corporation” due to its terrorist ties today in a first for Indonesia.
The court’s panel of judges ordered that JAD be dissolved, banned from being reincorporated in any form and also issued an IDR5 million (US$350) fine.
“The defendant, Jamaah Ansharut Daulah or JAD, has been proven legally and convincingly proven guilty of establishing and forming JAD as an organization affiliated with ISIS (Islamic State in lraq and Syria) or DAESH (Al-Dawla Ill-Sham) or ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and levant ) or IS (Islamic State) and is declared a forbidden corporation,” Presiding judge Aris Bawono said while reading the verdict in the South Jakarta District Court this morning as quoted by Detik.
Public prosecutors had demanded that JAD be declared a forbidden organization in court last week. Today’s decision by the South Jakarta Court follows last month’s conviction and death penalty sentence for Aman Abdurrahman, considered to be JAD’s spiritual leader, for his incitement of several terrorist actions.
To have JAD labeled a forbidden entity, prosecutors utilized Article 17, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Terrorism Law, which was revised following the attacks in Surabaya to give law enforcement expanded powers to preemptively act to prevent against terrorist attacks. The law allows for entities that were not previously registered with the government as official organizations to still be held responsible for the actions of its members.
Jamaah Islamiyah, the group responsible for the 2002 Bali Bombings, was actually the first organization to be labeled a terrorist group, a decision also rendered by the South Jakarta Court. However, JI had already been defined as a legal organization before the case against it was filed in court.
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