Indonesia prosecutors seek prison for Chinese Uighur accused of plot

Indonesian prosecutors yesterday demanded an eight-year prison term for a Chinese Uighur accused of involvement in plots to attack Jakarta’s ethnic Chinese governor and minority Shiite Muslims.
In a sentencing request, prosecutors said Nur Muhammet Abdullah, known as Ali, was guilty of violating Indonesia’s Anti-Terror Law. State Prosecutor Ika Salim said leniency was considered after Abdullah expressed remorse and cooperative with authorities.
The verdict in his case is scheduled to be delivered next month.
Prosecutors say Abdullah was preparing to be a suicide bomber and had given USD2,000 to a militant group under the guidance of Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria.
Abdullah, 30, was arrested in December on the outskirts of the capital with another militant, Arif Hidayatullah.
Police found a suicide bombing vest, explosive materials and a map of a government building they planned to attack.
Hidayatullah was sentenced on Oct. 3 to six years in prison for plotting to assassinate Indonesian officials, including Jakarta’s governor, who is an ethnic Chinese Christian, and Shiite Muslims during holidays at the end of 2015.
Last year, four men believed to be members of China’s ethnic Uighur minority were sentenced by an Indonesian court to six years in prison for conspiring with Indonesian militants.
The men were arrested while trying to meet Abu Wardah Santoso, who at the time was Indonesia’s most-wanted extremist. He was killed by security forces in a shootout in July in Central Sulawesi province. AP