Indonesian Police Plea to Hackers: Help Fight Terror

JAKARTA LIFE'S STYLE. The National Police are calling on the country’s hackers to help in the fight against terrorism, asking them to track down those behind a blog statement on the Internet that claimed responsibility for the recent deadly Jakarta bombings, an officer said on Friday.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Sukarna said the police’s cybercrime unit was trying to find out who created the blog site that claimed to speak on behalf of fugitive terrorist Noordin M Top, who police suspect was behind the suicide bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels on July 17 that left nine dead and more than 50 injured.

Nanan said the police still did not know who was behind the statement.

“There are so many smart hackers in the country; now it is time for them to prove their skills by helping the police defend the state and the nation,” he said. “Go after this site, we’ll make the arrests.”

The statement issued on the blog, in Arabic and Indonesian, named Abu Muawwidz Nur Din bin Muhammad Top as the emir, or leader, of the Tandzim Al Qo’idah Indonesia group, which it said was behind the bombings.

It claimed that the bomb attacks were part of a jihad and had targeted a meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Marriott, while the suicide bombings at the Ritz aimed to prevent a scheduled visit to Indonesia by English football team Manchester United.

The star footballers were due to stay at the hotel during their July 18-21 visit to Jakarta as part of a preseason Asian tour.

According to the blog, the statement was issued just one day after the attacks.

Nanan said there was no need for the public to pressure the police to rush their investigations into the bombings, asserting that the police always tried to complete cases as soon as possible.

“There is no need for the pressure,” he said.

Nanan also said that since a 2002 Antiterrorism Law was issued, a total of 428 terrorist suspects, both Indonesian and foreign, had been arrested across the country.

“Some of them are still in custody and serving their sentences … and three of them were executed last year,” he said.

The three executed were Imam Samudera and brothers Ali Ghufron and Amrozi, who faced the firing squad at the Nusakambangan Island prison in November last year for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings.

“Some of them have already been released from jail,” Nanan said, although he maintained that they were currently being monitored by police. He declined to elaborate.

Nanan also said terrorism could be spread through radical publications widely available across the country.

“We remain on alert about the distribution of the pro-jihad books and media containing radical ideas, however this is beyond our duty. It falls on the Attorney General’s Office to take clear action on this issue,” he said.