Indonesia to outlaw Jemaah Islamiyah group implicated in Bali bombings News
Indonesia to outlaw Jemaah Islamiyah group implicated in Bali bombings

[JURIST] Ansyaad Mbai, the head of the Counterterrorism division of Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs, announced Monday that the Indonesian government [official website in Bahasa Indonesian] plans to outlaw the al-Qaida-linked radical Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah [MIPT profile] implicated in the 2002 Bali nightclub attacks. Mbai said that sensitive political considerations meant that the actual banning of the group – whose name roughly translates to "Islamic Community" – will not occur immediately, but he said that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono [official profile in Bahasa Indonesian] was very concerned about the damaged caused by the alleged terrorist group and that their outlawing would give Indonesian police the tools they needed to capture members of the organization. Some pro-Islamic state groups in Indonesia have expressed concern that the targeting of Jemaah Islamiyah may lead to the criminalization of anyone seeking to create an Islamic state in Indonesia. Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir [BBC profile], was recently sentenced to 30 months incarceration [JURIST report] for his role in the conspiracy to commit the Bali bombings. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Indonesia [JURIST Country news archive]. The Jakarta Post has local coverage.