Jemaah Islamiyah member admits role in foiled 2001 terror attack News
Jemaah Islamiyah member admits role in foiled 2001 terror attack

[JURIST] A Singaporean member of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) [CFR backgrounder; JURIST news archive] terrorist group admitted his role in plotting the foiled 2001 attack of an Indonesian airport, while testifying at the trial of two Indonesian terrorist suspects in the South Jakarta District Court Thursday. Mohammad Hassan bin Saynudin said that in 2001, he and other JI operatives planned to hijack a flight from Bangkok and crash it into Singapore's Changi Airport, but the plan failed and he escaped to Indonesia. Saynudin, who has been in Indonesian custody since July for allegedly planning a failed terrorist attack in an Indonesian bar, has previously admitted his involvement in terrorist activities. Last month he told the court that he met with Osama bin Laden [Straits Times, report] and tried to recruit Indonesians for al Qaeda purposes. Saynudin's testimony came at the trial of JI members Anis Sugandi and Sukarso Abdillah, who have admitted to murder and plotting to kill Christian clergy in Indonesia. Saynudin has been charged in the same incident and faces life in prison in a separate trial.

JI has been blamed for a series of terrorist attacks on westerners including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings [BBC backgrounder], which killed 202 people. Last November, three JI members were executed [JURIST report] following convictions for their involvement in those bombings. Before their executions, the three men had called on Islamic militant groups to carry out retribution attacks, which resulted in stepped-up security in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and a warning [text] issued by the US embassy in Indonesia. Last April, an Indonesian court convicted two JI leaders [JURIST report] on terrorism charges and recognized JI as a terrorist organization.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.