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Jakarta Post

Bahrun Naim’s wife among deportees housed in shelter

Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, February 7, 2017

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Bahrun Naim’s wife among deportees housed in shelter Mobile Brigade personnel from the Jakarta Police are on guard in front of a house in Setu, South Tangerang, Banten, where a suspected terrorist was shot dead in a raid on Dec. 21, 2016. (Antara/Muhammad Iqbal)

T

he wife of the notorious Indonesian militant believed to be fighting in Syria, Bahrun Naim, is among 75 people currently in custody as part of a deradicalization program at the government-owned Bambu Apus shelter in East Jakarta.

Bahrun’s wife, whose name remains undisclosed, was among those deported by Turkish authorities in several stages starting in December, National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) deradicalization director Irfan Idris said on Monday.

The National Police have accused Bahrun, a tech savvy militant who has joined the fight with the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Syria, of being the mastermind of a terrorist attack that struck the capital in January last year and killed eight people, including four perpetrators.

His wife, along with 74 other Indonesians deported from Turkey, has been housed at the Bambu Apus shelter managed by the Social Affairs Ministry. The Indonesians were deported for their alleged attempts to enter wartorn Syria.

The BNPT is still working on collecting details, Irfan said.

Bahrun was sentenced to twoand-a-half years in prison by the Surakarta District Court in 2010 for possession of illegal firearms. Following his release in June 2012, police suspected Bahrun of traveling to Syria in 2015 after becoming a disciple of master recruiter and terrorist convict Aman Abdurrahman while serving in prison.

Bahrun was also linked to the disappearance of Muhammadiyah Surakarta University student Siti Lestari, who reportedly dropped out and was declared missing in March in 2015.

She was believed to have traveled to Syria to become Bahrun’s third wife, but the authorities have not provided information on whether she had joined Bahrun in Syria.

It remains unclear whether Siti was the woman put in custody in Bambu Apus.

National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) chief Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius (right) speaks at a hearing with House of Representatives’ Commission III overseeing security affairs on Thursday in this file photo.(Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)

BNPT chief Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius said the 75 deportees had not reached Syria because they had been arrested by Turkish border security before entering the war-torn country. Some of them had felt stayed in Turkey for more than a year, looking for ways to enter Syria.

“Some stayed between two to three weeks [in Turkey before being arrested], but some also stayed there for one year,” Suhardi said, after visiting the shelter on Monday.

The 75 people were sent to Bambu Apus after being questioned by the National Police’s antiterror squad Densus 88 upon their arrival from Turkey. As Densus 88 investigators confirmed they had not violated the Terrorism Law, they were sent to Bambu Apus for the deradicalization program, Suhardi said, adding that they would only be charged if they were found to have joined IS in Syria.

They will return to their respective hometowns once the program has finished after at least one month.

Of the 75 people, 24 were women, 17 were men and 34 were children of various ages with the youngest being three weeks old. Most of them came from East Java.

“They wanted to perform hijrah [migration]. We hope that people will accept them after they have returned to society,” Suhardi said, adding if they felt excluded by society, they might be encouraged to resume radical thinking.

(Read also: 17 Indonesians questioned about IS upon return from Turkey)

Meanwhile, Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who also visited the shelter on Monday, said most of the deportees were well-educated and had held white-collar professions. They had also expressed their willingness to return home after completing the program, she added.

“Some of the children wanted to become doctors, boxers and pilots. Some of their fathers are experts in IT, physics and finance,” Khofifah said.

The deportees in Bambu Apus included former mid-ranking Finance Ministry official Triyono Utomo, whose journey with his wife and three children was aborted, and they were deported to Bali last month.

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