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legal precedent in counterterrorism was set by the judicial system on Tuesday, with a court finding seven men guilty of joining the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria or having recruited and facilitated the travel of Indonesians to join the terrorist group in the war-torn country.

While the sentences were lower than those sought by prosecutors, the West Jakarta District Court proved that the existing Terrorism Law was sufficient to prosecute propagators of violent ideology on the heels of IS-sponsored attacks in Central Jakarta last month.

Law enforcement authorities have previously struggled to prosecute suspected terrorists, with many released or charged with petty crimes such as travel document fraud.

Cleric Tuah Febriwansyah, aka Fachry, was given the highest sentence of five years, lower than the prosecutors'€™ demand of eight years, as well as a Rp 5 million (US$370) fine, for conspiring to plot an act of terrorism.

Fachry was also found guilty under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law of distributing information on radicalism and encouraging people to join IS through a website he had created, al-mustaqbal.net.

'€œThe defendant Tuah Febriwansyah, aka Ustadz M. Fachry, is proven beyond reasonable doubt to have committed criminal terrorism by disseminating information and fear among the public,'€ presiding judge Achmad Fauzi said.

Febriwansyah responded: '€œAlhamdullilah, I accept the judges'€™ decision.'€

On the same day, the West Jakarta District Court also tried two separate IS-related cases.

Former drug convict Koswara, aka Abu Ahmad, was found guilty of facilitating and funding IS supporters'€™ trips to Syria under the Terrorism Law and Terrorism Funding Law, alongside Aprimul Henry and Helmi Muhammad Alamudi, who bought plane tickets.

The three men were sentenced to four years, three-and-a-half years and three years in prison, respectively.

Helmi'€™s lawyer, Abi Sambasi, said his client rejected the charges against him, claiming that his reasons for buying the ticket to Syria were purely transactional.

'€œThe facts in court show that Helmi only sold tickets to make a profit, which was then donated to an Islamic boarding school housing many orphans,'€ said Abi.

'€œThere was no other motivation,'€ he said, adding that Helmi had in the end visited Syria for two weeks, but only because he had been given a free ticket.

In another hearing, Ahmad Junaidi, aka Abu Salman, Ridwan Sungkar and Abdul Hakim were found guilty of having participated in military training with IS in Syria for 24 days in 2014.

Junaidi and Abdul were sentenced to three years in prison, while Ridwan was sentenced to four years.

All three admitted that they had traveled to Syria with one of the leaders of IS'€™ Indonesian faction, Salim Mubarak Attamimi, aka Abu Jandal Al Yemeni Al Indonesi.

Their lawyer Asludin Hatjani said that his clients all accepted their sentences, but maintained their innocence, as the government had not prohibited IS until October last year.

'€œThey do not feel that they were involved with IS because Abu Jandal had told them that they would be sent there to teach others to read the Koran and provide humanitarian aid,'€ said Asludin.

With repeated high-profile terrorist attacks, not to mention dozens of smaller ones, Indonesia has become a regional haven for terrorism and a breeding ground for violent extremists.

The world'€™s most populous Muslim-majority nation most recently fell victim to a brazen bombing and shooting attack in a district of Central Jakarta crammed with high-end malls, embassies, government headquarters and UN offices on Jan. 14, leaving four attackers and four civilians dead.
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