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Leniency leads to terror attack
Brave heart: Activists perform a traditional war dance originating from Minahasa, North Sulawesi, on a street near the Sarinah Mall in Central Jakarta, where security forces engaged in a shoot-out with terrorists last week
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Brave heart: Activists perform a traditional war dance originating from Minahasa, North Sulawesi, on a street near the Sarinah Mall in Central Jakarta, where security forces engaged in a shoot-out with terrorists last week. The performance was aimed at convincing the world that Indonesia would not be intimidated by the attack.(JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)" class="image image-img_assist_custom-511x303 " alt="Brave heart: Activists perform a traditional war dance originating from Minahasa, North Sulawesi, on a street near the Sarinah Mall in Central Jakarta, where security forces engaged in a shoot-out with terrorists last week. The performance was aimed at convincing the world that Indonesia would not be intimidated by the attack.(JP/Wendra Ajistyatama) (JP)
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span class="inline inline-center">Brave heart: Activists perform a traditional war dance originating from Minahasa, North Sulawesi, on a street near the Sarinah Mall in Central Jakarta, where security forces engaged in a shoot-out with terrorists last week. The performance was aimed at convincing the world that Indonesia would not be intimidated by the attack.(JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
Indonesia's convoluted and messy judicial system seems to have encouraged the rise of terrorism after one of the attackers in Thursday's 'Paris-style' assault that killed four civilians is now believed to have been a former convicted terrorist who apparently received remissions due to 'good behavior'.
Afif, also known as Sunakim, identified on the day of the attack donning a DJ Tiesto shirt, was supposed to have remained in prison until 2017. However, the Law and Human Rights Ministry shortened his sentence by two years.
Akbar Hadi, a spokesman from the ministry's directorate general for penitentiaries, confirmed on Sunday that Afif had received various types of remissions during his time at the Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta between 2010 and 2015.
The sentence reductions included provisions for the Idul Fitri holiday and the so called Dasawarsa remissions granted by the government to all inmates at 20-year intervals.
'He [Afif] was qualified to receive the remissions because he showed good behavior while in prison,' Hadi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday, insisting that the remissions were justified under existing regulations.
Afif was sentenced by the West Jakarta District Court to seven years in prison in 2010, a sentence that was further confirmed by the Jakarta high court in March 2011. He was among 40 men arrested in Aceh in 2010 for illegal firearms possession and for involvement in underground combat training sponsored by terrorist leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and radical ideologue Aman Abdurrahman.
The remissions were given despite Afif's refusal to join in deradicalization programs aimed at preventing imprisoned terrorists from committing further violence.
'We cannot force an inmate to join a deradicalization program. It is just an option. The remissions were probably given because Afif had joined a prayer program,' Akbar said. 'The point is that if a penitentiary releases a convict, then he or she has already met the necessary requirements. We never release a convict without basis.'
Indonesia's prisons are notoriously weak on law enforcement and face serious problems such as pervasive corruption and overcapacity.
Convicted terrorists are sometimes considered well-behaved because they often lead prayer groups.
Along with Dian Jodi Kurniadi, Muhammad Ali and Ahmad Muhazan bin Saron, Afif launched a coordinated attack aimed at police and foreigners in a district packed with malls, embassies, government headquarters and UN offices in Central Jakarta.
Afif and Ali were killed after the bomb that they were carrying prematurely detonated in the parking lot of a Starbucks coffee shop. Dian and Ahmad died committing suicide bomb attacks.
The police have listed former terror convict Muhammad Bahrun Naim as the mastermind behind the attack. Bahrun is currently fighting with the Islamic State (IS) in Raqqa, Syria.
The police also found that Bahrun and Afif shared similar doctrines, thought to have been injected into them by IS spiritual leader in Indonesia Aman.
While the police have not uncovered any evidence to suggest that Aman orchestrated the attack, the police have indicated that the alleged perpetrators were disciples of Aman.
'Bahrun Naim used to be a member of Aman's praying community before joining IS in Syria,' National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan said on Sunday.
'The police are still looking for leads that can link Aman with Bahrun in the plot,' he said.
Aman, also known as Oman Rochman, is among just a few individuals in Indonesia who are trusted enough by the IS hierarchy that their recommendations and schemes are considered sufficient without additional references from IS headquarters, according to research by the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC).
Through his Tauhid wal Jihad organization, Aman, 44, manages his followers, conducts recruitment for IS and launches IS propaganda behind bars. Due to the Aceh camp incident, Aman and Ba'asyir received nine and 15 years in prison, respectively, and are now detained in the supposedly maximum-security prison of Nusakambangan on an island off the shores of Cilacap, Central Java.
Encouraged by Aman, Ba'asyir agreed to pledge his allegiance to IS in mid 2014, enraging his own family and loyalists who had long provided support to al-Qaeda's splinter faction Jabhat al-Nusra in its fight against Syrian government forces.
It was also due to Aman's charms and charisma that Afif, previously a petty criminal, decided to join a training camp in Aceh, a move that eventually landed him in prison.
Meanwhile, the death toll from Thursday's attack rose to eight after a fourth civilian, Rais Karna, succumbed to the wounds he sustained on the day.
The police also announced that Sugito, who was killed in the attack, was a civilian and not one of the bombers, as previously thought. Of the eight dead, the police have listed four as perpetrators.
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