Indonesia arrests 29 suspects for planning terrorist attacks, accusing them of attempting to attack
Indonesian police confirmed on the 17th that 29 terrorist suspects were arrested this month, accusing them of attempting to attack the gathering after the April election results were released.
The police said that in addition to the 29 people arrested this month, 60 terrorist suspects have been detained since the beginning of this year, and another 8 people were killed in the exchange of fire with the police.
Some arrested suspects are good at making bombs and have worked with armed personnel of other extremist organizations in Syria; others are members of the Indonesian local extremist organization "theocratic guerrillas."
"Theocratic guerrillas" follow the extremist organization "Islamic State". In January 2016 and May 2017, they bombed the center of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and launched a bomb attack in Surabaya, the second largest city in May last year.
Indonesia’s National Police Headquarters spokesperson Mohamed Iqbal said on the 17th that the police “preventively” arrested a group of suspects in order to prevent people from plotting wrongdoing after the election results were released.
Indonesia elects the president and vice president, members of parliament, and members of provincial and county councils and municipal councils on April 17. The quick vote count showed that the current President Joko Widodo had a 12 percentage point lead over another presidential candidate, Prabowo Subianto, but the two parties had disputes over the fairness of the election. The official results of the election are scheduled to be announced on May 22.
After the election, there were almost daily demonstrations in Jakarta, mostly organized by Prabowo supporters. The police are worried that once the election results are officially released, armed men may attack the gathering crowd and cause chaos.
Iqbal said: "We advise the public not to take to the streets on May 22, in case the suspect plans (on that day) to attack the crowd and the police."
Indonesia plans to deploy 32,000 security personnel in the capital next week to ensure the safety of places such as the election committee.