JAKARTA (UCAN): Indonesian police arrested 53 people in connection with a bomb attack on a Catholic cathedral in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province, on March 28 (Sunday Examiner, April 4).
Police spokesperson, E. Zulpan, said on May 18 that 46 men and seven women were detained as suspects for their roles in the attack on the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral on Palm Sunday.
According to police, a newly-married couple belonging to the Islamic State-affiliated Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) network carried out the attack, killing themselves and leaving at least 21 people injured.
Zulpan said that the arrests in Makassar, several nearby districts and locations in Central Sulawesi province were carried out over the last few weeks by the police anti-terror squad Densus 88 as part of a crackdown on the support network that helped stage the attack.
He said some could face up to 20 years in jail under Indonesia’s anti-terrorism laws.
Father Wilhelmus Tulak, parish priest of the cathedral, expressed his appreciation for police efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice and that those responsible will be punished.
“Let police carry out a proper investigation. Let them enforce the law where it is due. The victims were not only my parishioners but people. This is all about humanity,” he said.
“We all never want such a thing to happen again,” Father Tulak said.
