28 May 2018

Questions over new Indonesian terror law's implications for Papua

From , 3:04 pm on 28 May 2018

A human rights advocate says it may be possible that armed Papuan groups could be implicated in Indonesia's new anti-terror laws.

Indonesia's parliament last week passed tough new anti-terrorism measures following this month's suicide bombings in Surabaya.

The laws allow police to detain suspects for longer and prosecute those linked to militant groups.

Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch Indonesia says the government started to revise its counterterrorism law in 2016 after Islamic State-linked bomb attacks in Jakarta.

Indonesian police officers patrol outside a church following a suicide bomb in Surabaya.

Indonesian police officers patrol outside a church following a suicide bomb in Surabaya. Photo: AFP or licensors