JAKARTA — Indonesia held the final disbandment ceremony of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) radical extremist group yesterday, and may consider reduced sentences for ex-members still serving time in prison, the country’s National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) chief said.
The BNPT and the police’s Special Detachment 88 Anti-Terror (Densus 88) held the final disbandment ceremony in Solo, Central Java, yesterday, after 44 other earlier similar events that have been held across the country to mark the end of the group responsible for the Bali bombings in 2002.
BNPT Commissioner General of Police Eddy Hartono said former JI members took an Oath of Loyalty to Indonesia’s unity, reinforcing the country’s core principles of Pancasila, democracy, and human rights, Bernama reported him saying.
Eddy emphasised the importance of continued support for former JI members, including guidance, training, and activities such as national insight and entrepreneurship.
“This will allow them to live in peace and harmony within our diverse community,” he said at the ceremony yesterday.
The Straits Times, meanwhile, reported Eddy proposing that ex-JI members currently serving sentences might have their prison terms reduced if they declare their support for the disbandment.
This proposal is to get more militants to surrender to the authorities, Eddy said at the disbandment ceremony yesterday.
He would make this recommendation to Indonesia’s immigration and prisons authorities for more than 180 people currently serving sentences, although no timeline was specified.
Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, meanwhile, expressed gratitude to all parties involved in embracing former JI members, stressing the importance of a “soft approach” in the deradicalisation.
The final disbandment ceremony yesterday saw some 8,000 former JI members renounce their extremist beliefs.
Former JI member, Siswanto, welcomed the disbandment, expressing hope for the full integration of ex-group members into society as this will ultimately eradicate extremism.
“We also hope that those who are still outside will soon realise the need to join us,” he added.
JI was formed in 1993 as the Southeast Asian affiliate of IAl-Qaeda and was behind deadly attacks in Indonesia including the 2002 Bali bombings.
Other terrorist attacks attributed to the group have centred on Jakarta, such as the 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott hotel, the 2004 attack on the Australian embassy there, and the double hotel bombings minutes apart of the JW Marriot again and the Ritz-Carlton in 2009.
Indonesia has long cracked down on the group, and finally in June this year, JI announced its decision to disband after losing most of its leadership. Since then, it has undergone a process of disarming, revising its curriculum for followers and engaging with Indonesian authorities.
In Malaysia, JI’s name reared its head again in the attack on a police station in Ulu Tiram, Johor, May this year. Three people – two police officers and the suspect – were killed.
Shortly after the attack, police said the 21-year-old suspect who carried out the attack might be JI member. However, this point was later corrected to the suspect’s 62-year-old father being a former JI member.
Police also arrested 20 more alleged JI members in the aftermath of the Ulu Tiram attack.
Five family members of the Ulu Tiram attacker – his parents and three siblings – have since been charged with various terrorism-related offences and are awaiting trial.
More recently, two JI-linked Malaysians, Mohammed Farik Amin and Mohammed Nazir Lep, were repatriated here after being detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006, for their involvement in the Bali bombings and the 2003 attack on the JW Marriot in Jakarta.
They had never faced trial until this year, which led to a plea bargain deal and their repatriation.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Putrajaya is committed to ensuring their reintegration into society here, adding that police would continue to monitor, visit and engage them to ensure their rehabilitation remained intact. – December 22, 2024