JAKARTA — An Indonesian court sentenced an Islamic militant on Thursday to 11 years in prison after finding him guilty of conducting training in preparation for an extremist attack. Wawan Kurniawan was arrested along with four other militants last October by the anti-terror squad in Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province.
Judge Suhartono, who presided over the trial at West Jakarta District Court, said Wawan had been proven guilty under the anti-terror law. Wawan, 43, was the local leader of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, an Indonesian militant network affiliated with the Islamic State group that has been implicated in attacks in the country.
Wawan was accused of having provoked a riot in May at a high-security police detention center in which six officers were killed by Islamic inmates who took control of part of the prison near Indonesia’s capital. One militant was also killed.
A week later, four sword-wielding men who allegedly belonged to Jemaah Anshorut Daulah attacked a police headquarters in Pekanbaru and were fatally shot by police. A fifth man who drove their vehicle was arrested while trying to escape. One officer died and two others were injured.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement carried by its Aamaq news agency. Prosecutors had sought a 13-year jail sentence for Wawan, but the panel of judges said they decided to be lenient because of his politeness during the trial and because he had never been sentenced in a criminal case before.
Indonesia has carried out a sustained crackdown on militants since bombings by al-Qaida-affiliated radicals in Bali in 2002 killed 202 people.
