Anti-radicalisation programmes focus on Indonesian prisons to combat growing influence of Islamic State
Though support for IS in Indonesian prisons remains low, a handful of inmates have left for Syria upon release and mass pledges of allegiance have reportedly occurred behind bars.
Life isn’t easy for convicted militants like Machmudi Hariono when they walk out of prison in Indonesia. Barred from most jobs, shunned by society, Hariono’s debts piled up until an outreach programme working with reformed jihadis got him a kitchen job in a small cafe.
Today the 40-year-old manages several businesses, including a car rental service, and is “at peace”, having found a new calling far from the violent jihad that derailed his life.
“It will erase the old you, the one who stayed in prison, no trace of it,” Hariono said from Solo, a city in central Java that is a hotbed for radical extremism. “You will find a new life that is colourful.”
Afif managed to mask his radicalism inside prison. Most prisoners considered him quiet and not a troublemaker
Programmes aimed at deradicalising hardliners have taken many forms in Indonesia, from gardening classes run behind bars to family reunions organised by not-for-profit groups. But in the aftermath of this month’s deadly Jakarta attack, hard questions are being asked about the government’s efforts to identify and tackle radicalism in prison, after police revealed one of the gunmen was a previously jailed militant lured to Islamic State (IS) while behind bars.
Afif, who goes by one name, was jailed for seven years for training at a militant camp but was released early in mid-2015 for good behaviour. Six months later, he was dead, along with three other militants and four civilians, after perpetrating the first gun and suicide bomb attack claimed by IS in Southeast Asia.
“Afif managed to mask his radicalism inside prison,” said Noor Huda Ismail, who has worked closely with reformed extremists and is an expert on Indonesian militancy. “Most prisoners considered him quiet and not a troublemaker.”
In prison Afif was in contact with Aman Abdurrahman, a radical preacher incarcerated on multiple terror offences, Ismail said. Abdurrahman pledged allegiance to IS while behind bars, and translated messages from the brutal militant group in his sermons to fellow convicts.
Though support for IS in Indonesian prisons remains low, a handful of inmates have left for Syria upon release and mass pledges of allegiance – unbeknownst to authorities – have occurred behind bars, Southeast Asia terror expert Sidney Jones said in a talk last year.
