Indonesian Islamic State cleric gets death sentence for Jakarta attack

An Indonesian cleric found guilty of masterminding a 2016 terror attack in Jakarta which left four civilians dead has been sentenced to death.

Aman Aburrahman was convicted of planning the attack which saw a suicide bomber blow himself up at a Starbucks.

The cleric, who had declared his support for the Islamic State (IS), is also the spiritual leader of a local extremist network.

The 2016 attack was the first linked to IS in Indonesia.

Aburrahman, 46, has been in prison since 2010 but the court heard he planned the attacks from his jail cell.

The attack saw a series of explosions hit the capital, with the Starbucks and a police security post among those hit by the blast.

The blasts centered around a major shopping and business district, close to foreign embassies and United Nations offices.

Gunmen were also holed up in the complex that housed the Starbucks, and gunfire was exchanged when police arrived.

Two attackers were killed in the shootout and two others blew themselves up.

The judge said in the sentencing on Friday that Abdurrahman had been proven guilty of "carrying out terrorism".

Abdurrahman had pleaded not guilty, saying he had inspired his followers to travel to Syria to fight with IS but had had not ordered attacks in Indonesia.

He is the spiritual leader behind the Indonesian-based Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) military group, which had previously pledged allegiance to IS, and considered to be the de facto head of IS supporters in Indonesia.

Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, has suffered militant attacks in the past but this was the first claimed by IS.

In June, a cluster of suicide attacks in Surabaya saw churches and police headquarters targeted.

At least 11 people died in an attack on three churches, making it the deadliest incident since 2005, when 20 people died in the Bali bombing.

The churches attack was carried out by a family of six - including two girls ages nine and 12.

Source: BBC News, June 22, 2018

Aman Abdurrahman's death sentence won't provoke retaliation: BIN

The death penalty handed down to Islamic State (IS) ideologue Aman Abdurrahman will not provoke other jihadist movements to retaliate, State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief Lt. Gen. Teddy Lhaksmana has said.

"I suppose it won't [cause a retaliation] and [such attacks] can be anticipated," Teddy told journalists in Jakarta on Friday.

"[However] staying vigilant is a must for everyone," he went on.

Aman, the de facto leader of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), a local affiliate of the IS terror group, was found guilty of inciting several terror attacks in Indonesia and was given a death sentence by the South Jakarta District Court in a hearing on Friday.

The judges found him responsible for inciting others to carry out at least five terror attacks in Indonesia, including the Thamrin attacks in Central Jakarta in 2016 and the Kampung Melayu bombings in East Jakarta last year. Aman's teachings were behind the terror attacks, the judges said.

Aman denied that he was involved in the attack, despite admitting that he had urged his followers to go to Syria to join the IS in its quest to establish a global caliphate.

Source: Jakarta Post, Marguerite Afra Sapiee, June 22, 2018

Indonesian terror leader Aman Abdurrahman 'grateful' for death penalty

An Indonesian court has sentenced radical Islamic cleric Aman Abdurrahman to death by firing squad for inspiring his followers to commit a wave of terror attacks.

Judge Ahmad Zaini handed down the death penalty at South Jakarta District Court on Friday.

The cleric, also known as Oman Rochman, was on trial for ordering 5 terror attacks carried out by Islamic State-inspired militants known as JAD between 2016-17, including the 2016 Jakarta bombing.

Abdurrahman is considered JAD's de facto leader. JAD or JAT, Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid, is a splinter cell of Jemaah Islamiyah, the group responsible for the Bali bombing in 2002 and the attack on the Australian embassy in 2004.

A statement from the panel of 5 judges said: "the defendant's religious outreach inspired his followers to commit terrorism so the defendant must take responsibility."

After the judgement, Abdurrahman immediately stood up, faced the rows of journalists sitting behind him and bowed his head down as if in gratitude. Armed guards quickly surrounded him to block cameras from capturing the gesture.

His lawyer Asludin Hatjani told journalists: "we can translate that as being grateful."

Abdurrahman then told the judge he did not accept nor reject the sentence.

Mr Hatjani told the court they would consider what legal steps to take, though Abdurrahman waved his hand, apparently rejecting that statement.

Judge Zaini said they have 7 days to accept, reject or appeal the sentence.

In addition to the Jakarta bombing that killed 4 civilians, Abdurrahman was found guilty of masterminding a bus terminal bombing in Kampung Melayu, a church bombing that killed 1 child and burnt several in Samarinda, the stabbing of a police officer in Medan and the shooting of a police officer in Bima, all in 2017.

Indonesian prosecutors had called for the death penalty in May.

Prosecutor Anita Dewayani, said at the time: "the defendant is legally and convincingly guilty and we demand the panel of judges to impose death sentence."

Friday's sentence is the 1st death penalty in 13 years given in a terrorism case.

The last was issued to Iwan Darmawan Muntho, also known as Rois, for his involvement in the Australian embassy bombing.

Centre for Radicalism and De-radicalism Studies director Adhe Bhakti said he feared Abdurraham's followers may retaliate after the verdict.

"Definitely they will be because the man's words were capable of inciting people to commit terrorism, let alone if this man is executed," he said.

"They may carry out violent acts.

"But I'm sure security people will increase security measures and I think all intelligence agencies should also increase better coordination."

Source: Sydney Morning Herald, Karuni Rompies & Anna Prytz, June 22, 2018

⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

I watched Ohio's last execution. Here's what it was like

As Gov. DeWine calls for Ohio to end capital punishment, the state’s last execution remains the one I witnessed in 2018 Inside Ohio's death house, there is a room for executions and separate witness rooms: one for those connected to the victim and another for those connected to the inmate. Windows separate the death chamber from those watching, the condemned from the living. I was there on July 18, 2018 – during Ohio’s most recent execution. Robert Van Hook was put to death that day for killing David Self in 1985. He sat on death row for three decades. I was one of three media witnesses to the execution.

Kansas AG urges governor to deny clemency to 8 sentenced to death

TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach on Tuesday urged the governor to deny clemency to Kansas inmates who have been sentenced to death. Eight of nine people sentenced to death in Kansas formally filed clemency requests in May, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office. Kobach urged Gov. Laura Kelly to reject them.

Gov. Mike DeWine calls for Ohio to abolish the death penalty

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Gov. Mike DeWine Tuesday morning called on Ohio to abolish the death penalty, citing data that he said proves it is no longer a deterrent to violent crime. “For the state to take a human life, there must, in my opinion, there must be evidence that in doing so it will help protect the public, that the threat of that action will deter someone from committing murder,” DeWine said. “I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made.” DeWine cited data showing a decline in the last four decades of executions being carried out and an increase in the time inmates spend on death row.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

New Mississippi billboard warns criminals: ‘Firing squad is legal’

DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. (WREG) — A billboard standing on Interstate 55 southbound as you cross the Tennessee state line and enter Mississippi from Memphis is sending a grim message to those coming into the state. DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton recently announced the new billboard campaign, which features the sign reading, “WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI. WHERE THE FIRING SQUAD IS LEGAL. THINK TWICE.” It references Mississippi’s law permitting execution by firing squad under certain circumstances for inmates sentenced to death. Barton says this campaign is aimed at deterring violent crime and sends a direct message to criminals entering Mississippi.

SCOTUS: Alabama can’t execute Jeffery Lee by nitrogen; Thursday execution called off

After a week of legal volleyball, Alabama death row inmate Jeffery Lee’s execution—scheduled for Thursday evening—was called off after federal courts called the state’s nitrogen gas execution method “likely unconstitutional.” The state took the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping Lee could still be put to death tonight. In an order issued at 8:10 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that it would not lift a ban on Alabama executing Lee via nitrogen . In a short court order, the justices denied Alabama’s motion to go ahead with the execution. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the appeal and let the execution proceed, according to the order.

With nitrogen gas blocked, Alabama seeks to execute inmate by lethal injection

Jeffery Lee, who successfully challenged his scheduled Thursday execution by nitrogen gas, argued that execution by firing squad would be less painful. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office Friday sought to put an Alabama death row inmate to death by lethal injection a day after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed the state’s attempt to execute him by nitrogen gas. In a filing with the Alabama Supreme Court Friday afternoon, the state sought an expedited motion to set a new execution date for Jeffery Lee, 49. The state said that with a permanent injunction in place against nitrogen gas, the method by which the state intended to execute Lee on Thursday, it could execute him by lethal injection or the electric chair.

Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch wanted an execution that a Trump judge deemed illegal

The Supreme Court these days is generally in the business of helping executions go forward. But on Thursday night, the court did something notable: It told Alabama no. Even then, the court wasn't unanimous. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented from the refusal to let the nitrogen gas execution of Jeffery Lee proceed. What prompted the rare rejection? In line with the typical shadow docket practice, the court didn't explain itself. Nor did the dissenters, who merely noted their disagreement. But a deeper look at the case helps us understand why a majority of the court was unwilling to help the state this time.

Alabama | Judge bars nitrogen gas execution, says method is unconstitutionally cruel

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from executing an inmate with nitrogen gas after declaring it violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Emily Marks issued the ruling hours after an appeals court reversed her initial finding that the method was constitutional. Marks permanently enjoined the state from executing Jeffrey Lee, 49, by nitrogen gas. He was scheduled to be executed Thursday. The decision, for now, blocks the use of the controversial new execution method that the state has championed since 2024, but the issue will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Florida execution of 74-year-old death row inmate Dusty Ray Spencer reignites debate

Florida has set an execution date of June 25, 2026, for 74-year-old death row inmate Dusty Ray Spencer, a move that would make him the oldest person ever executed in the state’s history . Governor Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant on May 26, 2026, marking the tenth such warrant issued this year as the state continues its current pace of capital punishment. Spencer was convicted in 1992 of the first-degree murder of his wife, Karen Spencer, in Orange County. Court records detail a prolonged and violent pattern of abuse preceding the homicide. On January 18, 1992, after prior incidents of physical assault and threats, Spencer stabbed his wife to death in their backyard. The trial evidence included testimony that the victim was alive and conscious during the attack, which involved blunt force trauma and multiple stab wounds while the couple's son was present.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog