By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR (AA) - Two men pleaded guilty Monday to throwing a hand grenade at a nightclub in Kuala Lumpur -- the first Daesh-linked terror attack on Malaysian soil.
In Malaysia's Sessions Court, Imam Mahyudin Karjono, unemployed, and factory worker Jonius Ondrie @ Jahili pleaded guilty to throwing the grenade at the Movida entertainment center near Puchong in the capital's city center June 28.
Eight customers were injured as they sat watching the Euro 2016 football tournament on television.
Judge Azhaniz Azman Teh fixed Sept. 21 for sentencing after the duo pleaded guilty. Karjono and Jahili, aged 20 and 24 respectively, were also denied bail due to alleged connections with Daesh.
Earlier, the two men were charged with one count of supporting terror activities by hurling the grenade and injuring eight people, while Karjono was also separately charged with spreading terror ideology via the Telegram mobile application from March 23-June 28 at his flat in Kuala Lumpur.
Despite initial speculation that the attack was gang related, on July 4 Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar said that detained suspects had admitted to having taken instruction from Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, a Malaysian-born Daesh leader, who also recruits locals to join the terror movement in Syria.
The duo initially targeted senior political leaders, the police and judges, Bakar added.
Police have since heightened security checks at all entry and exit points in the country while special and periodic checks are carried out in several areas in the city and Klang Valley.
Alert levels were raised to their highest in January after a Daesh-linked attack in neighboring Indonesia left eight people dead, with Malaysian police listing seven potential hotspots for attack in Malaysia.
The force also nabbed a suspected Daesh-linked militant in Kuala Lumpur, saying the arrest occurred just hours before a planned nighttime suicide bombing at an entertainment venue in the Bukit Bintang tourist area.
Following an Australian alert in February warning of potential violence in Kuala Lumpur, Prime Minister Najib Razak said that security at major tourist attractions countrywide had been beefed up by a joint military and police team.
As of the end of last year, some 72 Malaysians, including 14 women, had been identified as having fled the country to join Daesh movements in Iraq and Syria.