The National Police are preparing for possible terror attacks ahead of Christmas and New Year by holding an operation called Indonesia Prevents.

“Religious celebrations tend to be used as moments to carry out attacks. We have anticipated this. The National Police are implementing a system called Indonesia Prevents,” said National Police policy analyst Sr. Comr. Rikwanto as quoted by Antara news agency.

He said the police had taken preventive measures by arresting suspicious people before they acted. “We realize there will be protests because they will ask 'why are you arresting innocent people’, because the crime hasn’t happened yet. But trust us, every time [antiterror squad] Densus 88 arrests someone, it is based on a long investigation.

The police, he said, would release those who were not proven to be involved in potential terror acts.

“For example, we might target one person who is hanging out at a coffee stall. There are five of them there, so we would arrest all five, but would release the rest if they were not involved,” he said. (evi)