The new law will give more power to police to take pre-emptive actions against terror suspects (Photo: Reuters/VNA)Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia approved a newanti-terrorism law which will grant more power to police to take pre-emptiveactions against terror suspects.
The move comes after the country has sufferedfrom a series of deadly attacks from Islamic extremists in recent years.
According to the new law, police will be allowedto detain terror suspects for as long as 21 days, up from the current one week.
Police will also be able to charge people forjoining or recruiting for a terrorist organisation at home or abroad.
The bill had been stalled for almost two yearsas Indonesian parliament argued over key details, including how to defineterrorism.
However, the suicide bombings on churches and policestation in Surabaya city on May 13-14 that killed 13 people heaped pressure onlawmakers to pass the bill.
President Joko Widodo threatened to issue anemergency regulation if the parliament failed to pass the law.
The new anti-terrorism law was passed whenIndonesia is gearing up for the 18th Asian Games in August and a meeting of theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in October.-VNA
VNA
