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noted scholar on radical Islam in Indonesia says the Indonesian Islamic State (NII) movement was able to avoid prosecution due to a strong base of followers and its impact on politics.

“NII has a massive base of followers,” Sholahudin said at a discussion on the NII in Jakarta on Saturday. “Politicians approach them for practical gains, especially during elections.”

Historical records show the NII, also known as Darul Islam, has been part of an underground radical Islamic movement in Indonesia since 1942. It resurfaced recently following reports that university students in major cities were being “brainwashed” into joining the movement and donating funds.

NII’s involvement in politics is evidenced by the activity of its public face, which is represented by the Islamic boarding school Al-Zaytun, Sholahudin said.

The school, he said, publicly threw its support in the 2004 presidential election to former army general Wiranto. Al Zaytun, he added, had instructed its 25,000 to vote for Wiranto.

“This is a natural consequence of having so many followers. Wiranto approached Panji, clearly for votes,” Sholahudin said, referring to Panji Gumilang, Al-Zaytun’s founder.

Al-Zaytun is frequently associated with NII by the media as three NII members in West Java were sentenced to prison for spreading radical teachings. They claimed Panji was their leader.

Panji has repeatedly denied ties to NII, saying his school did not teach radical Islamic doctrine. The Jakarta Post was unable to reach Wiranto for comment on his alleged connection with Panji or Al-Zaytun.

Speaking at the same discussion, intelligence expert Wawan Purwanto said the recent reemergence of NII was triggered by a recruitment drive that had become markedly more aggressive. He said he suspected the group was in need of money.

NII’s recruitment system, he said, resembled multi-level marketing schemes. “If one link is broken, it will be replaced by another. The pattern is a lot like MLM, information spreads by word of mouth. A person is usually approached by two recruiters,” Wawan said.

He said recruiters would use psychological tools commonly found in most communication strategies used in product marketing, but added that the NII members also used hypnosis.

“Each member is given a target of recruiting seven new members a month,” he said. The recruitment, he added, was conducted continuously on a large scale “because of debt”.

Sholahudin agreed, saying Panji had around Rp 250 billion (US$ 29.25 million) in his bank account at Century Bank. He is believed to have incurred significant losses when the bank collapsed.

Sholahudin said the NII could reap up to Rp 9 billion in donations each month from their members.

They often raised money by pretending to ask people on buses and sidewalks or at the gas stations for mosques donations, he said. “They also collect money through a door-to-door service.”

“They are easily spotted by the six-pointed star, or a globe, which are their symbols, on their envelopes or charity boxes,” he said.