- Indonesia is set to host the Asian Games in three months
- Security forces arrested hundreds of militants during a sustained crackdown since the 2002 Bali bombing
JAKARTA: Indonesia passed a new law Friday that will give police more power to take pre-emptive action against terror suspects following the country’s deadliest suicide attacks in years.
The bill had been stalled for almost two years as Parliament wrangled over key details, including how to define terrorism. But a wave of deadly suicide bombings on churches and a police station this month — claimed by Daesh — heaped pressure on lawmakers to pass the legislation. President Joko Widodo threatened to issue an emergency regulation if Parliament failed to pass the beefed-up law. Police will now be allowed to detain terror suspects for as long as 21 days, up from the current one week, and they will also be able to charge people for joining or recruiting for a “terrorist” organization, at home or abroad.
Hundreds of Indonesians flocked to Syria and Iraq in recent years to fight alongside Daesh and many have since returned.