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View all search resultsWill Abu Tholut strike back after 8 years?
Abu Tholut’s trial at the West Jakarta District Court on Thursday was not the typical hardliner-fest with dozens of jihadists flocking to show support for the defendant by screaming “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) and reciting verses of the Koran
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bu Tholut’s trial at the West Jakarta District Court on Thursday was not the typical hardliner-fest with dozens of jihadists flocking to show support for the defendant by screaming “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) and reciting verses of the Koran.
No howling condemnation was heard when presiding judge Musa Arif Aini sentenced Tholut, whose real name is Imron Baihaqi, to eight years in prison for terrorism, lower than the 12 years sought by prosecutors.
Tholut was found guilty for his role in organizing the terrorist training camp in Aceh in early 2010, and for the possession of firearms and explosives.
His testimony against terrorist spiritual leader Abu Bakar Ba’asyir may have earned him the lighter sentence, but not support from fellow jihadists.
Tholut testified in court that Ba’asyir’s aides Ubaid and Abdul Haris had given him Rp 140 million (US$15,820) to run the training camp.
Ba’asyir was sentenced to 15 years in prison in June for organizing the terrorist camp.
“Abu Tholut’s willingness to testify against Ba’asyir may have been a factor in keeping the sentence below the 12 years asked by prosecutors,” said Sidney Jones, an expert on Southeast Asian militancy.
“But the sentence is largely consistent with other sentences handed down in connection with the Aceh camp.”
“Illegal possession of firearms, in the hands of a man committed to the military training of young men indoctrinated in the use of violence is a very dangerous offense,” she said.
Tholut refused to comment on his trial nor on the accusation that he had betrayed Ba’asyir.
“I feel fine,” said Tholut after the trial. “I haven’t decided whether to appeal or not.”
Abu Tholut was arrested by the National Police’s Detachment 88 counterterrorism unit in Kudus, Central Java, in December 2010.
Tholut’s attorney, Asludin Hatjani considered the punishment too severe as Tholut was only found guilty of illegally owning firearms, but not of direct involvement in military training activities.
“Abu Tholut decided to leave the camp after discovering that he was being used by Dulmatin to serve
other interests,” said Asludin.
Dulmatin, the mastermind of the first Bali Bombing in 2002, was shot dead by police in a raid in Pamulang, Tangerang, in 2010, in connection with the Aceh camp.
While Tholut had no role in the bombing, he had already earned admiration from fellow jihadists, including Dulmatin.
Tholut is a graduate of the mujahideen academy class of 1987/1988 on the Afghan-Pakistan border during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. His classmates included former Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) executive Nasir Abbas, first Bali Bombing perpetrator Mukhlas, and former JI leader Abu Rusdan.
In Afghanistan, Tholut taught tactics and field engineering to Southeast Asian extremists and separatists between 1989 and 1993, according to a police report.
Prior to his involvement in violent jihad, Tholut was a medical student at Sultan Agung Islamic University in Semarang between 1980 and 1981 before moving to Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta to study veterinary science between 1981 and 1985. He did not finish his studies.
With such credentials, analysts are worried about whether the eight-year sentence is sufficient to end Tholut’s violent jihad movement.
Tholut was once among several convicted terrorists enrolled in the police’s deradicalization program while in prison but he is a confirmed recidivist.
Tholut took part in the bombing of the Atrium shopping mall in Central Jakarta in 2001 and was found guilty of possessing illegal ammunition and explosives in 2003. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison in 2004 but received a reduced sentence in 2007.
“Whether or not Tholut is dangerous when he gets out of prison depends entirely on how well the government manages its prisons and develops good programs aimed at disengaging men like Tholut from their former networks and at ‘immunizing’ communities against extremist teaching. So far the government’s record has not been very good,” said Jones.
University of Indonesia security expert Andi Widjajanto said that Tholut would remain dangerous even after serving his sentence.
“He remains a threat if he maintains his ideology of building the Islamic caliphate through violent jihad,” he said.
Andi believed that the sentence was too short for someone with Tholut’s expertise unless the government managed to penetrate Tholut’s network deeper and deradicalize his followers.
“Tholut can even influence inmates and build a new network of terrorism cells if the government is not responsive,” he said. (msa)
