Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The 17 year old who yesterday tried to kill a priest in the parish of St. Joseph in Medan (North Sumatra) was inspired by the murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. This is according to Medan police chief Mardiaz Kusin Dwihananto,who added: "After seeing the terrorist attacks in France on the internet, the suspect tried to do the same thing here."
Yesterday Ivan Armadi Hasugian was sitting among the faithful during the Mass celebrated by the Capuchin priest Albert Pandiangan. After attempting to detonate an improvised explosive device hidden in his backpack, the boy launched himself against the priest wielding a knife and ax.
Fr. Albert, who had just finished proclaiming the Gospel, managed to dodge the blow and in doing so was slightly wounded in his left arm. At that point the faithful immobilized the attacker and handed him over to police.
Ivan Armadi Hasugian received some injuries to his face and back when the bomb failed to explode.
Police requisitioned all the objects belonging to the attacker, including backpack, knife and a ticket with the Arabic inscription "La ilaha illalla", which means "there is no other God but Allah."
Police in Medan added that the attack could have been motivated by the promise of 10 million rupees made to the boy by two unidentified men. Ivan Armadi Hasugian reportedly met with them a few days before the attack. Several witnesses in the church reported seeing two people flee the holy place when the bomb blast failed.
It is not the first that an attack has taken place inside a church in Indonesia. On July 22, 2001 a bomb left five dead and a dozen injured in the parish of St. Anne in Duren Sawit (East Jakarta).
