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Counterterrorism agency urges public to be accepting of ex-terrorists
The willingness from families, and society in general, to embrace former terrorism convicts plays a key role to curb radicalism because doing the opposite will further drag them into extremism, a top counterterrorism official has said.
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National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian (right) shakes hands with the newly installed chief of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius, after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo inaugurated the latter at the State Palace on July 20. (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
The willingness from families, and society in general, to embrace former terrorism convicts plays a key role to curb radicalism because doing the opposite will further drag them into extremism, a top counterterrorism official has said.
National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) chief Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius said the success of deradicalization programs undertaken by former terrorists during their imprisonment highly depended on the level of acceptance their families and communities had for the convicts when they were released.
“The level of acceptance from the public is crucial as it determines whether former [terror] convicts will be marginalized or not. If they are not welcomed, there is a high possibility that they will return to their terrorist group,” Suhardi said on Tuesday in Jakarta after signing an agreement with the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) to map out a national terrorism risk index.
Suhardi cited the example of Juhanda, a released terrorism convict who returned to spreading terror after his family allegedly ostracized him after he had finished serving his 42-month sentence. Last month, he threw Molotov cocktails into the parking lot of Oikumene Church in Sengkotek subdistrict, Samarinda, which killed a toddler and injured several others.
In 2012, Juhanda was convicted of terrorism for his involvement in a plot to blow up the Center for Science and Technology Research (Puspiptek) complex in Serpong, Banten, the site of a nuclear reactor, and Christ Cathedral in Gading Serpong, also in Banten. (fac/bbn)
