Indonesian police arrest 59 suspected militants over an alleged plot to disrupt 2024 elections

By NINIEK KARMINI
Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s elite counterterrorism police squad has arrested at least 59 suspected militants in recent weeks in a nationwide crackdown as the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country gears up for elections in 2024. Police said Tuesday that arrests were made in eight provinces since Oct. 2, including 27 suspects who were arrested Friday. Those arrested are believed to have links to banned extremist groups who were allegedly plotting to disrupt the upcoming election. Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, is set to vote in simultaneous legislative and presidential elections on Feb. 14. The country has had free and largely peaceful elections since the fall of dictator Suharto in 1998.