Indonesia seeks 12 years for top Islamist extremist

JAKARTA—Indonesian prosecutors on Thursday sought 12 years in jail for Abu Tholut, seen as one of the most dangerous Islamist extremists in the mainly Muslim country.

Tholut, 49, was found guilty of playing a key role in the formation of a militant training camp discovered in Aceh province last year, of recruiting militants and raising illegal funds for terror activity, prosecutors said.

“He carried out an ‘evil conspiracy’ with other terrorists including Abu Bakar Bashir and Dulmatin,” prosecutor Bambang Suharyadi told West Jakarta district court, adding that Tholut should be jailed for 12 years.

Bashir was jailed along with dozens of other militants linked to the Aceh cell, which was allegedly planning attacks against Westerners, the security forces and assassinations of political leaders.

Dulmatin, a notorious bomb maker wanted for the 2002 Bali attacks which killed 202 people, was shot dead last year during anti-terror police raids outside Jakarta capital.

Tholut received militia training in Afghanistan during the mujahedeen war against the Soviets in the late 1980s and became a leading figure in Southeast Asia’s Jemaah Islamiyah terror network when he returned home.

“His acts have stirred up an atmosphere of terror and widespread fear,” the prosecutor said.

He reportedly sent Islamic militants to fight Christians in Sulawesi from 1998 to 2001 and served less than half of a seven-year prison sentence handed down in 2004 for the bombing of a shopping mall in Jakarta three years earlier.

Tholut, from Central Java, also allegedly helped establish training camps for Islamic militants in the Southern Philippines, including the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

Hundreds of suspected militants have been arrested or killed in connection with the Aceh network.

Indonesia has been rocked by a series of attacks staged by the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah in recent years, including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.

Tholut will be sentenced in two weeks’ time after defense arguments.