Indonesian authorities have arrested dozens of people from hardline groups over suspected plots aimed at disrupting next year’s presidential election, police have said.
A Spokesperson for Indonesia’s Counterterrorism Special Detachment 88 unit, Aswin Siregar said on Tuesday that Police arrested 59 suspects and seized weapons, propaganda material and bomb-making chemicals.
“For them, the election is part of democracy, whereby democracy is immoral. Democracy is something that violates the law for them,” spokesperson Aswin Siregar told a press conference in the capital Jakarta
“They planned to carry out attacks on security forces who focus on securing the series of election activities.”
“I think this served as a warning for them that Densus 88 would not tolerate the slightest threat to our domestic security, especially in the situation leading up to … the election,” he added.
Spokesperson Aswin told a news conference in the capital Jakarta that nineteen of those arrested were from the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network, which has ties to al-Qaeda, while 40 suspects were from Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS (ISIL).
Jemaah Islamiyah orchestrated the 2002 Bali bombings that ripped through a nightclub and bar on the Indonesian resort island, killing 202 people.
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