Jakarta. Jakarta prosecutors on Monday recommended a sentence of eight years in prison for Munarman, the former secretary-general of now-defunct Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI, for allegedly recruiting followers for the global militant network Islamic State.

Prosecutors also asked the judges to keep the defendant in detention while awaiting the verdict.

"We demand that the panel of judges of the East Jakarta District Court pronounce Munarman guilty of terrorism,” according to the prosecution demand read in turn by prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Munarman and two clerics Basri and Amshori, both have now died, led participants of a religious congregation in South Sulawesi capital Makassar and North Sumatra capital Medan to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State leader Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi in 2015.

They also alleged that Munarman had links to suicide bombers who attacked churches in Makassar and the Philippines. 

In response, Munarman said prosecutors “didn’t have the confidence” in pursuing terror conviction for him, otherwise they “would have recommended death sentence”.

“The demand is not serious. I will present a defense statement myself,” he told the panel.

The hearing was adjourned until next week to get a response from the defense team.

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