British woman named on global terror suspect list detained in Indonesia

Tazneen Miriam Sailar, a British woman, has been detained by Indonesia. Sailar is on the list of global terror suspects and the Indonesian authorities plan to deport her for visa violations, they told AFP on Tuesday. 

Tazneen was born in Manchester and converted to Islam when she got married to an Indonesian jihadist who was killed in Syria. While she has been charged with terror offences, both her and her husband’s names are on an Indonesian police list of suspected extremists which has several names of suspected individuals from the west. Her husband was killed in Syria in 2015.

Farid Ghozali, Sailar’s lawyer said that both Tazneen and her 10-year-old son( who was born in Indonesia) have been held in Jakarta since last year without documents. She has been allowed to remain in the country. 

“She was put (in detention) while awaiting her return, which will be facilitated by the British embassy,” Indonesian immigration directorate spokesman Ahmad Nursaleh told AFP.

The embassy has declined to comment, and the timeline of her deportation is unclear at the moment. 

It is not specified in the police docket why Sailar and her husband were listed in the Indonesian list among 400 other terror suspects. Sailar’s marriage was officiated by Abu Bakar Bashir, a radical Indonesian cleric who is the spiritual head of the extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah(JI), as per inputs from some sources familiar with the case.  

Jemaah Islamiyah members were responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings responsible for killing 200 people, out of which 90 people were Australian tourists in 2 packed bars in the Indonesian island.

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Sailar arrived in Indonesia in 2005 to volunteer for a Christian humanitarian foundation which worked for the victims of natural disasters. She was currently operating a charity she had named after her late husband. The charity sends help and aid for children and women in conflict struck zones of Syria. 

Sailar’s appearance on the list could restrict her ability to travel and work said Jakarta-based security analyst Sidney Jones. “If you’re on this list, it will loom over your head,” Jones said.

“For this woman, I don’t know what will happen to her if she goes back to the UK.”

Several alleged members of the Taliban and IS appear on the Indonesian police list, including radical British Islamist Anjem Choudary and Sally-Anne Jones, a recruiter reportedly killed in a US drone strike in Syria.

Maxime Hauchard, a French convert linked to a gruesome IS beheading, and countryman Peter Cherif, a close associate of the siblings who killed staff at Charlie Hebdo magazine in 2015, are also included in the list.

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Sailar holds a British passport, which also said she goes by at least two aliases, according to the list

Indonesian investigators have interrogated Sailar but no charges have been filed, her lawyer said.

“So we’re now focused on immigration matters,” he said, elaborating that Sailar wants to remain in Indonesia.