Former Terrorist to be Involved in De-Radicalization Program

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Security and Legal Affairs, Luhut Pandjaitan, said on Tuesday that he would facilitate the wish of terror-accused prisoner Ali Imron to join the governments de-radicalization program.

As is known, in the past few years, Ali Imron, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the first Bali bombing, was often invited to discussion events on de-radicalization and gave information to the police regarding terrorist networks in Indonesia.

"I think the idea is good. I have even invited him to my office along with Yenny Wahid (daughter of former president Abdurrahman Wahid) to jointly design the program and it was carried out. We have to intensify the program as it cannot be done by one person. De-radicalization requires collective work," he stated at the Wahid Institute.

He noted that although he could not guarantee that Ali Imron, the younger brother of Amrozi who was sentenced to death and executed over the Bali bombings, has really changed, he was optimistic that Ali Imrons conscience would undergo a change if he was informed of the current conditions in Indonesia.

"As I have explained, we do not want Indonesia to become like Syria where there has been no peace. We want to have peace. Let us pray along with other citizens so that Indonesia would remain peaceful and no chaos happens," he added.

The program will be carried out together with other parties. "(Mrs) Yenni, BNPT (counter-terrorism agency), the Ministry of Religious Affairs, PBNU (executive board of Nadhlatul Ulama), Muhammadiyah (major Islamic organization) will all take part. They will work jointly," he stressed.

ANTARA