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Five people named suspects in Samarinda church attack
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Remembrance – An Indonesian Christian Youth Movement (GAMKI) member puts a flower on a poster with an attached picture of Intan Olivia Marbun, 3, who died in a bomb attack at the Oikumene Church in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, during a peaceful rally in Medan, North Sumatra, on Nov. 15. (Antara/Irsan Mulyadi)
T
he National Police have named five suspects in the Molotov cocktail attack at the Oikumene Church in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, on Sunday.
“As of today, in regard to the Samarinda church attack, five people have been named suspects including Johanda,” National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar told journalists on Thursday.
Johanda alias Jo Bin Muhammad Aceng Kurnia, 32, was earlier reported as the alleged attacker in the incident.
The attack, which occurred just after the Oikumene Church congregation finished a Sunday mass, severely injured four children who were playing at the church compound. One of the children, Intan Olivia Marbun, 3, was pronounced dead at Abdul Wahab Sjahranie Public Hospital in Samarinda on Monday due to injuries she suffered in the attack.
The alleged perpetrator, Johanda, reportedly tried to flee the scene after he threw the Molotov bomb by swimming into Mahakam River near the church. Residents managed to catch him and handed him over to the police, however.
Boy said that in total thus far, the police’s counterterrorism squad Densus 88 had arrested 21 people but named only five of them suspects, while the rest were still being questioned.
Johanda is a former convict of a series of terror attacks that occurred in 2011. He reportedly has a connection with the Islamic State (IS) extremist movement through his organization Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an IS-supporting group in Indonesia.
In 2011, the West Jakarta District Court sentenced him to three years and six months in prison for his involvement in a plot to blow up the Center for Science and Technology Research (Puspiptek) complex in Serpong, Tangerang, Banteng, and to attack Christ Cathedral in Gading Serpong, also in Banten. He was also involved in an attack at the Liberal Islamic Network (JIL) headquarters in Utan Kayu, East Jakarta. (ebf)
