Arif Hidayatullah, an Indonesian militant close to the Islamic State,
was sentenced to six years in prison for plotting to kill the Christian
governor of Jakarta Basuki Tjahaja Purnama also known as “Ahok”. "The terrorist had also planned to attack some places of worship in Bogor, with homemade bombs.
The court held the hearing yesterday and found that Arif has close contacts with Bahrun Naim, the first Islamic terrorist linked to the Islamic State and the main suspect in the bombings of January 14 last year in Jakarta.
According to the Indonesian intelligence, Naim – who is now in Iraq and Syria to fight in the ranks of the Caliphate - also designed the failed missile attack in Singapore last July.
According to the judge, he provided Arif Bahrun Naim instructions on how to obtain explosives and other materials to manufacture the bombs. The two chatted on the Telegram app.
Arif was arrested December 23, 2015 as he was attempting to attack "Ahok", the governor of Jakarta. A Christian ethnic Chinese, he is one of the few Indonesian political leaders to fight for freedom of conscience.
Last June he opposed to the obligation imposed on Jakarta students to wear the Islamic veil.
In July 2015 the governor promoted a fight for civil rights of the Ahmadi minority, considered heretical by the majority Sunni Muslims.
Several leaders and Islamic parties opposed his candidacy for the 2017 elections.