Jakarta – National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said there were 17 cases of terrorism this year, compared to 12 cases last year.
He said the amendment of the Terrorism Law issued after the terrorist bombings in Surabaya in May made it easier for police to intercept and prevent terrorist attacks.
"Prosecuting early action is better so that police can prevent or launch preemptive strikes. [It is better] than waiting until we have evidence," he said at a press conference on Thursday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Tito said with the new authority mandated to the police in the law, the force succeeded in preventing terrorist attacks before the Asian Games 2018, the Asian Para Games 2018 and the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
As many as 270 suspects were arrested on charges of issuing terrorism threats and police already knew how to minimize terrorist attacks when the Asian Games took place.
In the whole year, cases of terrorism involving 396 suspects were discovered and legal action was taken against 141 suspects. Twenty-five suspects were killed during law enforcement actions, 13 died in suicide attacks and 12 had been convicted.
Meanwhile, eight police officers were killed by terrorists, double the number in 2017. However, Tito said in general the number of criminal cases, both conventional and transnational, declined in 2018.