Indonesia Passes Tough Anti-Terror Law in Wake of Bombings
Fire rescue workers work at bomb blast at Surabaya Pantekosta Center Church in Surabaya, Indonesia on May 13.
Source: Surabaya Goverment Handout/Andy Pinaria via Getty Images
Indonesian security authorities have been given tougher powers aimed at combating a surge in extremist violence that has seen the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation reeling from the deadliest attacks since the 2002 Bali bombings.
Less than two weeks after a wave of attacks including three separate bombings at churches in Indonesia’s second largest city of Surabaya, lawmakers on Friday gave final approval to a long-delayed revision of the country’s 2003 anti-terrorism law. While the review had been proposed in early 2016 after a gun and suicide-bomb attack in central Jakarta, it had been stalled in the parliament for more than two years.