The Jakarta Stock Exchange bombing was a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

attack on the

Jakarta Stock Exchange Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX; Indonesian: Bursa Efek Jakarta (BEJ)) was a stock exchange based in Jakarta, Indonesia, before it merged with the Surabaya Stock Exchange to form the Indonesia Stock Exchange. History Originally opened in 1912 unde ...

on 13 September 2000. A

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roug ...

exploded in the basement of the building, triggering a chain of explosions in which a number of cars caught fire. Most of the dead were drivers waiting by their employer's cars. Many had taken cover in their vehicles but suffocated as billowing black smoke engulfed the basement levels. The bombing suspended trading for two days after the attack and also resulted in a sudden, brief devaluation of the Indonesian rupiah. The attack was later claimed by

Jemaah Islamiyah Jemaah Islamiyah (, ''al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmiyyah'', meaning "Islamic Congregation", frequently abbreviated JI) was a Southeast Asian Islamist militant group based in Indonesia, which was dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic state in ...

, a Southeast Asian Islamic extremist group with links to

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

. The group was responsible for several other terrorist attacks in the region, including the Philippine consulate bombing in Jakarta which occurred just a month ago and the Bali bombings in 2002.

Investigation

In August 2001 an Indonesian court sentenced two men to 20-year jail terms for masterminding the attack. The two men were members of the notorious Indonesian special forces unit,

Kopassus The Kopassus (, Special Forces Command) is an Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as Direct action (military), direct action, unconventional warfare, sabot ...

. Prosecutors had demanded the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

for Teuku Ismuhadi Jafar and

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

for his accomplice, Nuryadin, who escaped detention in July 2001 but was sentenced by the

South Jakarta South Jakarta (; ), abbreviated as Jaksel, is one of the five administrative cities which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. South Jakarta is not self-governed and does not have a city council, hence it is not classified as a ...

Court in absentia. The court declined the death sentence for Jafar, saying that while he had ordered the blast he did not actively participate at the scene of the crime in downtown

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

.Stock exchange bombers jailed for 20 years
NN August 20, 2001

References

{{Campaignbox Terrorism in Indonesia 2000 murders in Indonesia Car and truck bombings in Indonesia Car and truck bombings in 2000 20th-century mass murder in Indonesia Indonesia Stock Exchange Mass murder in 2000 Stock Exchange bombing September 2000 crimes in Asia September 2000 in Asia Terrorist incidents in Indonesia in 2000 Stock Exchange bombing 2000s in Jakarta Building bombings in Indonesia 2000 in economic history Economic history of Indonesia