Terror convict in Burqa-clad jailbreak

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Jakarta - An Indonesian man convicted of terror offences escaped from a high-security jail by wearing a burqa to disguise himself as a woman, police said on Thursday. Roki Aprisdianto, who was serving a six-year sentence for involvement with an Islamic militant group, put on the full-length Muslim garment and walked out of the prison with a group of burqa-clad women visitors, police said. The 29-year-old prisoner is believed to have made his escape after a visiting woman wearing two burqas passed him one, police spokesman Rikwanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.

At the time of the escape on Wednesday, the prison, which holds around 70 terror convicts, was being guarded by four members of the elite anti-terror squad and seven other police officers.

“In the future, besides deploying more police personnel, we will also ask visitors to lift up the veil covering their face as they leave the facility,” Rikwanto said.

Roki was convicted last year of recruiting members for a small Islamic militant group in Central Java province that plotted bomb attacks on churches and police posts.

The group did not launch any successful attacks. The closest they came was planting a bomb in a church which exploded without causing major damage or casualties. - Sapa-AFP