Jakarta – An Indonesian judge on Monday ruled that the arrest of a senior member of the Jemaah Islamiyah extremist network was lawful and he should remain in custody.

Indonesia's anti-terror police arrested Abu Dujana last month as he rode on a motorcycle with three of his young children. His wife, Sri Mardiyati, brought a suit against police alleging he was illegally detained.

"The arrest and detention of Abu Dujana... followed proper procedures," Judge Wahyono told the South Jakarta District Court.

Mardiyati had said Dujana's arrest was illegal as the warrants were only sent to her weeks afterward. Her suit also accused police of shooting the suspect in the thigh without cause, traumatising their children.

Police said during the hearing that they shot Dujana because they feared he was carrying a suicide bomb. Wahyono said the impact of the shooting was out of the court's jurisdiction so did not need to be considered.

Police accuse Dujana of involvement in the August 2003 bomb attack on the US-run JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta which left 12 people dead. He denies any involvement but he has admitted to heading the military wing of JI.

JI has been blamed for a string of deadly bomb attacks against western targets in Indonesia in recent years, including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.