A husband and wife were convicted and sentenced on 14 March for their role in facilitating the family suicide bombings of three churche s in Indonesia in May 2018.
Agus Satrio Widodo was jailed for eight years and his wife, Damayanti, for three years and four months after a West Jakarta court found them guilty of “aiding criminal acts of terrorism” and “being involved in a criminal conspiracy”. The couple were involved in the planning and preparation of the attacks.
On 13 May 2018, six suicide bombers from the same family targeted early morning services at three churches of different denominations in the port city of Surabaya on the island of Java, killing 13 people and injuring more than 40.
Two brothers, aged 16 and 18, rode up on motorcycles to the first church to detonate their bombs at around 7.30 a.m. Five minutes later, their father exploded a car bomb in the grounds of a second church and their mother blew herself up, along with her daughters aged nine and twelve, at a third.
Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the attacks. Java police subsequently stated that the family had recently returned to Indonesia from Syria.
Christianity is Indonesia’s second largest religion, after Islam. Christians make up at least 15% of the population.
