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The West Jakarta District Court on Thursday began hearing the case against high-profile terror suspect Abu Umar, who is accused of smuggling weapons into the country and operating a suspected militia training camp.

The prosecution alleged that Umar, 42, had violated article 15 of the 2003 Law on Terrorism and the 1951 Emergency Law on providing illicit arms. He could face the death penalty if found guilty.

Between 2009 and 2011, Umar ran a number of terror training camps, recruiting as many as 30 people, the prosecution said.

The group, prosecutors say, was planning to kidnap and kill civilians they believed were standing in the way of Shariah law’s implementation in Indonesia.

“After [the recruits] mastered firearm techniques, they were taken to military-style training camps in a number of locations,” lead prosecutor Izamzam said in his opening statement. “The defendant had committed a conspiracy to commit crime, assisting or encouraging people to commit acts of terrorism by providing them training to use firearms and explosives.”

Izamzam said that shortly after graduating from high school in 1990, Umar joined Darul Islam, an outlawed organization that aspires to turn Indonesia into an Islamic country.

The defendant then joined the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebel movement in the southern Philippines, where he eventually led a band of militants.

Umar, the prosecutor said, had extensive knowledge and skills in using firearms and constructing explosives.

He returned to Indonesia years later and assumed the position of head of the Darul Islam operations in Jakarta. Using his contacts in the Philippines, he managed to acquire arms and smuggled them into Indonesia.

Umar was also sought in a plot hatched in 1999 to attack former Defense Minister Matori Abdul Jalil, and for supplying weapons to a group that attacked a police post in Loki, Ambon, in 2005, leaving five officers dead.

Police learned of his whereabouts after breaking up an arms-smuggling syndicate from Mindanao, in the southern Philippines, that had been providing weapons for militant groups in Indonesia. Umar was arrested in July at his home in Bogor, where police seized a handgun and 50 rounds of ammunition.

Umar is also known as Ichwan Zulfikar, Muhammad Ichwan, Abdullah Omar, Zulfikar, Indra Kusuma, Andi Yunus and Nico Salman.

Nine more people were apprehended after Umar’s arrest, which also led to the discovery of other firearms stashed in his followers’ homes and other locations. The group was also indicted on Thursday.

Wandoyo, also known as Salman, a follower of Umar who arranged the weapons distribution, was found to be in possession of an M-16 assault riffle and a 9-millimeter FN45 handgun.

Al Muhammad Akbar and Muhammad Irsyad were both charged with having an M-16.

Prosecutors also charged Iwan Kurniawan and Achmad Izzmi, who reportedly purchased the arms from the Philippines. Asmuni, also known as Munir, was accused of being the group’s treasurer. The court also heard the trial of Taufik Hidayat, Samin and Mamo, who were believed to have financed the purchase and smuggling of the arms.

All defendants were charged under the same laws as Umar.