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Civil group deplores death sentence of terrorist Aman Abdurrahman
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Guilty: Terrorist defendant Aman Abdurrahman (right) attends a hearing at the South Jakarta District Court in Jakarta on June 22. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
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akarta-based rights group Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat) has slammed the South Jakarta District Court’s decision to sentence terrorist Aman Abdurrahman to death.
The spiritual leader of the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) terrorist group was declared guilty on Friday for inciting acts of terror.
“LBH Masyarakat rejects capital punishment against any crime,” LBH Masyarakat director Ricky Gunawan said in a press statement.
He said LBH Masyarakat acknowledged that the attacks committed by Aman Abdurrahman’s terror network were heinous and had taken many lives.
“However, the death penalty is not a proper response or answer to [preventing] terror attacks in Indonesia,” Ricky said.
(Read also: Aman Abdurrahman's death sentence won't provoke retaliation: BIN)
Combatting terrorism, Ricky said, required a long-term and holistic approach instead of a reactionary response such as capital punishment.
“The death sentence is a delusional solution to terrorism,” the activist said.
He pointed to convicted terrorists Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas, who were placed in front of the firing squad in 2008, whose execution did not lead to a decline in terrorist activities.
LBH Masyarakat recommended that Aman be sentenced to life under continual deradicalization.
Aman received the death penalty for violating the 2003 Terrorism Law by orchestrating five terror attacks around Indonesia from 2016 to 2017.
Aman founded JAD in February 2015 by uniting Islamic State (IS) sympathizers in Nusakambangan prison as he was serving his nine-year sentence. He is also known as an IS propagandist who actively translates and disseminates IS documents online while indoctrinating fellow prisoners. (nor/ebf)
