JAKARTA – The Indonesian police have detained seven people in a failed plot to attack Pope Francis, who wrapped up the first leg of his 12-day Asia-Pacific tour in the archipelago on Sept 6.
A total of seven people were detained, mostly on Sept 2 and 3, in Jakarta, in the outlying cities of Bogor and Bekasi, West Sumatra province and Bangka Belitung Islands province, according to the media statement issued on Sept 6 by Indonesia’s national police anti-terrorism squad Detachment-88.
The initials of the arrested are HFP, LB, DF, FA, HS, ER and RS, the statement said.
Detachment-88 spokesman Aswin Siregar told reporters that investigations are still ongoing, and it has not yet been established whether the seven detainees know each other, or are members of the same terror cell.
“We have a mechanism to monitor and filter. We had tip-off information from members of the public,” Colonel Aswin said.
Searches conducted in the house of one of the militants said to be planning an attack on Pope Francis – who visited Jakarta from Sept 3 to 6 – yielded bows and arrows, a drone and ISIS leaflets, a source told The Straits Times. Some of those arrested had pledged allegiance to ISIS, he added.
“One of the arrested is a militant who belongs to the same terror group that attacked Wiranto,” the source said, referring to Indonesia’s then Chief Security Minister – who goes by one name – who was stabbed by two ISIS-radicalised assailants in 2019 and underwent surgery after the attack.
He said the militants were angry about Pope Francis’ visit to Jakarta’s Istiqlal mosque, the largest in South-east Asia, and upset about the government’s appeal to television stations to refrain from the usual broadcasting of azan (Islamic call to prayer) while a live broadcast of Pope Francis’ visit was in session. Television stations replaced the azan broadcasts with a running text instead.
Indonesia’s fight against terrorism has been going on for decades, marked by high-profile attacks including the 2002 Bali bombing – the largest terror attack the country has suffered – and the 2009 attacks on Jakarta hotels.
Detachment-88 has frequently been praised for its spectacular arrests and prompt raids, preventing numerous potential attacks in the country whose Muslim population largely adopts a moderate form of Islam.
On Aug 21, an Al-Qaeda affiliated militant who, in 2014, planned an unrealised plot to attack the Singapore stock exchange building, was arrested in Gorontalo, in the northern part of Sulawesi island.
The 51-year-old Indonesian national, Yudi Lukito Kurniawan, is currently being investigated by Detachment-88 over his current and past participation and role in Indonesia’s terrorist networks.
