Indonesia: Parents of Medan church attacker say sorry to Christians

Pile picture of armed police officer standing guard inside a church in Jakarta, Indonesia. Earlier this morning, a man attempted to detonate an explosive inside a Medan church. Pic: AP.

2nd September 2016

THE PARENTS of the so-called Islamic State-obsessed youth who failed his suicide bombing attempt at a church in Medan have apologized to Christians for the incident.

The apology was conveyed during a press conference yesterday at the office of the Indonesian Advocates Association (Peradi), according to Jakarta Post.

The father of the 17-year-old accused, Makmur Hasugian, was quoted in the report saying his family was shocked to hear of the attack and the attempt to kill the St Yosep Catholic Church’s parish priest Albertus Pandiangan.

“Our family apologized. There has been no intention at all from us to hurt Christians, especially Catholics. We have Christians among our family,” said the 65-year-old, who reportedly cried during the media conference.

 

Follow

The Jakarta Post

 

✔@jakpost

Parents of Medan church attack suspect apologize to Christianshttp://bit.ly/2bGHb4N  #jakpost

10:20 PM - 1 Sep 2016

Parents of Medan church attack suspect apologize to Christians

Parents of Medan church attack suspect, IAH, 17, apologized on Thursday to Christians, especially Catholics, for their son’s attempt to bomb Catholic Church St. Yosep and to kill the priest, Albertus...

thejakartapost.com 

• 2323 Retweets
•  
  88 likes

 

Makmur added, however, that his son was no criminal was likely just swayed by radical teachings.

“My son is the victim of radicalism. He is not a criminal. Someone persuaded him to do that,” he said.

SEE ALSO: Indonesia: Failed suicide bomber was obsessed with Islamic State, minister says

The youth’s mother, 54-year-old Arista Purba was just as distraught when addressing the media. She blamed herself for the attack, saying she had failed to keep a better watch on her son.

“This is my fault. I didn’t closely monitor him,” she was quoted saying.

Arista also claimed that her son was sorry for his actions, and that this was conveyed to her when she visited him at the Medan police station.

“He apologized for terrorizing so many people and getting his family in trouble,” she said.

Last Sunday during mass, the youth who first posed as a parishioner at the church tried and failed to detonate a bomb hidden in his backpack.

SEE ALSO: Would-be bomber fails to detonate in Indonesian church

According to reports, the youth left the pews suddenly and ran towards Father Albert with a burning backpack as the congregation chased and captured him. The suspect was also carrying a knife but only ended up injuring himself in the incident.

The motive of the attack was not immediately clear but churchgoers claimed the perpetrator was carrying with him symbols resembling the IS logo.

Police later seized the homemade bomb equipment, a passport and several ID cards and comfirmed that initial investigations revealed that the youth was obsessed with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a key leader of the IS terrorist network.

The latest attack has raised concern among authorities on the resurgence of Islamic radicalization in the Muslim-majority country.

Home to the largest population of Muslims in the world, Indonesia has suffered a spate of deadly attacks by Muslim militants since the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Authorities recently said they had stepped up surveillance in Indonesia’s resort Island of Bali following reports that it could fall victim to another bombing attack.

SEE ALSO: Indonesia: Authorities beef up security in Bali after arrested militant reveals ‘plans to attack’

Police had earlier nabbed a militant believed to be behind the July suicide bombing at the Surakata (also known as Solo) police base and preliminary investigations revealed that the man may have been planning to stage an attack in Bali.

Earlier this year in January, a shootout and bomb attack took place in the capital of Jakarta, killing eight people, including four IS-linked insurgents.