10 terror suspects go on trial in Indonesia

JAKARTA—Ten Islamists accused of planning attacks against Indonesian police went on trial Thursday, facing life sentences if found guilty.

The 10 men, including alleged ringleader Abu Umar, were rounded up by police last year in a four-day operation in which more than a dozen firearms and hundreds of bullets were seized.

Prosecutor Izamzan said the group had smuggled firearms from the Philippines into Indonesia between 2009 and 2011, and organized military-style training last year in Indonesia which was attended by around 30 militants.

But Izamzan said Thursday that charges against Umar and the other accused did not include planning attacks in Singapore due to scant evidence.

In a police raid in 2010 which killed a terror suspect linked to Umar, police found a map of Singapore’s train network, with a station in the Orchard Road shopping area circled.

“Police posts in Jakarta were some of their targets,” he said.

Umar, 41, had allegedly incited followers to jihad, or holy war, against “infidels,” including the Indonesian government and any country “preventing the implementation of Islamic law,” Izamzan said.

“Abu Umar and his followers have committed an evil conspiracy… smuggled firearms, ammunition and other dangerous materials into Indonesia to carry out terror acts,” he told the west Jakarta district court.