Indonesia passes new anti-terrorism law

The new law will give more power to police to take pre-emptive actions against terror suspects (Photo: Reuters/VNA)

Indonesia approved a new anti-terrorism law which will grant more power to police to take pre-emptive actions against terror suspects.

The move comes after the country has suffered from a series of deadly attacks from Islamic extremists in recent years.

According to the new law, police will be allowed to detain terror suspects for as long as 21 days, up from the current one week.

Police will also be able to charge people for joining or recruiting for a terrorist organisation at home or abroad.

The bill had been stalled for almost two years as Indonesian parliament argued over key details, including how to define terrorism.

However, the suicide bombings on churches and police station in Surabaya city on May 13-14 that killed 13 people heaped pressure on lawmakers to pass the bill.

President Joko Widodo threatened to issue an emergency regulation if the parliament failed to pass the law.

The new anti-terrorism law was passed when Indonesia is gearing up for the 18th Asian Games in August and a meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in October.

VNA

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