Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors demanded on Wednesday a local court outlaw the Jemaah Islamiah Islamic militant group, which has been blamed for a string of deadly bombings in recent years.
It is the first time prosecutors have asked a court to ban the group, which has been blamed for a series of attacks in Indonesia including the 2002 Bali bombings in which 202 people were killed.
Police in several countries have linked JI to al Qaeda but Indonesian authorities have argued they cannot ban the group since since it is not an established, structured organization.
The demand to outlaw JI, which is listed by the United Nations as a terrorist group, was made during the trial of one of its suspected leaders, Abu Dujana, who was arrested in June last year.
"We demand the panel of judges... declare Jemaah Islamiah an illegal organization," chief prosecutor Payaman told the hearing at the South Jakarta district court.
A recent jailbreak by a JI member in Singapore has revived fears the Islamic militant group could plot attacks against Western interests in the region again.
Prosecutors asked the South Jakarta district court to sentence Dujana to life, saying he was guilty of involvement in a criminal conspiracy to carry out terrorism.
Prosecutors in a separate hearing sought a life sentence for Zarkasih, the chief of Jemaah Islamiyah. He was arrested in June.
The prosecution accused Dujana of authorizing the shipping of firearms and explosives to the Poso region on Sulawesi island where a conflict between Christians and Muslims killed about 2,000 people at the start of the decade.
The charge sheet also alleged that Dujana, who has confessed to leading JI's military wing in the past, harbored other fugitive militants and provided financial support for "terrorism."
Dujana has said that charges against him are false and that he is a victim of injustice. "This (trial) is not intended to prove truth, but on the contrary it demonstrates lies. I am not a JI member," he told the court.
Police arrested Dujana, 38, in a town in Central Java in June and at the time described him as their most wanted man.
Indonesia is the world's fourth-most populous country. While the vast majority of Muslims are moderate, the country has seen the emergence of an increasingly vocal militant minority.
[Writing by Ahmad Pathoni; Editing by Sugita Katyal.]