South Jakarta District Court ruled on Friday to sentence Indonesian cleric Aman Abdurrahman to a death penalty over instigating a string of terrorist attacks, including the Jakarta Starbucks cafe bombing in 2016.

According to the Jakarta Post newspaper, the cleric was a de facto leader of the local Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) radical group, affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia). The panel of judges ruled that Abdurrahman’s radical teachings incited at least five terrorist attacks, including a suicide bombing at the Starbucks cafe in central Jakarta in 2016.

"The defendant has been found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of inciting others to commit terrorism," the presiding judge said, as quoted by the media outlet.

Abdurrahman denied his involvement in the terrorist attack, though admitting that he had persuaded his followers to join IS in Syria.

In January 2016, a series of explosions in the heart of the Indonesian capital in the area near the Sarinah shopping mall, where numerous luxury hotels, embassies and office buildings are located. A terrorist blew himself up inside a Starbucks cafe, while his accomplices opened fire on people who were trying to leave the cafe.

Moments later another terrorist detonated an explosive device next to a traffic police post. Explosions followed by the gunfire claimed lives of four civilians and injured 20 more, including police officers.

IS claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Sputnik