Author Maria Wenda | Editor
Terrorism and radicalism are dangerous ideologies that can target all groups, including state servants. All parties are expected to continue to be aware of the recruitment of state servants as members of terror groups who can abuse their positions and facilities to assist terrorism.
The State Civil Apparatus (ASN) is a servant of the state who must dedicate themselves to Indonesia. Likewise with law enforcement officers, who when sworn in always take an oath of allegiance to the state. State servants are state employees who are paid by the government, so they must prove their loyalty to Indonesia.
If they are loyal, then the ASN has no loopholes and they cannot betray the state, and when proven disobedient, they can get a strong reprimand. One of the criteria for a traitor to the state is to become a member of a radical and terrorist group. Radicalism and terrorism cannot be accepted in Indonesia, so automatically if there are ASN involved in terrorism, they will become traitors.
Sadly, according to the findings of the BNPT (National Terrorist Countermeasures Agency), there have been 31 ASN involved in terrorism since 2010. The 31 people have fulfilled the elements of a criminal act of terrorism, so they can be arrested before committing a terrorist act. In legal terms this is called preventive justice.
Kombes Pol Tubagus Ami Prindani, Director of Prevention from Densus 88 Anti-terror, stated that his party is trying to prevent radicalism and terrorism at all levels of society, including ASN. Radical and terrorist groups have targeted people in the government and state institutions.
In a sense, terrorist and radical groups seem to deliberately target ASN and law enforcement. The reason is because they have considerable influence in society and are respected by many people. When a civil servant becomes a member of a terrorist group, he will recruit many ordinary people to become new cadres, and this is dangerous because it can foster terrorism in Indonesia.
Kombes Pol Tubagus continued, it is very dangerous if a terrorist group has recruited law enforcement officers (and they are also state servants). The reason is because they are armed. In a sense, when law enforcement officers are exposed to terrorism, it can be very serious because with legal weapons they carry out illegal actions, such as attacks or bombings.
Eradication of terrorism and radicalism among law enforcement must be carried out strictly. Don’t let any soldiers prove to be radical, because they will get a strong reprimand, even the threat of dismissal. They were proven to have betrayed the people’s trust and violated their oath of allegiance to the state, so it was natural to receive a very heavy sentence.
On the other hand, ASN who are exposed to terrorism and radicalism are also dangerous because if they spread news about terrorism, the public will trust them. In a sense, ASN has a big influence in the association of citizens. When they upload news, they will only believe it, even though it could be a hoax and propaganda deliberately made by a terrorist group.
If there are residents who know that an ASN is exposed to radicalism, they can complain to a special complaint site created by the government. Later the complaint will be investigated so that it is known whether the ASN is really exposed to the ‘poison’ of terrorism or not. If true, the reported party can be punished, depending on the level of the error.
Herman Suyatman, Head of the Legal, Communication and Information Bureau of the Ministry of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform (KemenPANRB) stated that if an ASN is caught committing disciplinary actions (including those related to terrorism), the government will take firm action.
Herman continued, ASN who are proven to have committed acts of radicalism and terrorism will be punished, depending on the level of guilt. Does it follow the employment law or is it indicated as a criminal act. If you follow the civil service law, it depends on the error, light, moderate, or serious. The sanctions can be in the form of a strong reprimand, postponement of promotion, even dishonorable dismissal.
The punishment is given as a deterrent effect so that no ASN or other law enforcement officers dare to become members of radical and terrorist groups. The government is not kidding because if the punishment for the traitors of the country is heavy, they will lose. If you are dishonorably fired, you will not automatically receive a pension.
Meanwhile, to eradicate radicalism and terrorism among ASN, preventive measures are taken. When selecting CPNS or selecting new cadets, it must be ensured that the participants are not related to terrorist groups. The investigation was carried out rigorously and social media was also investigated, because it could be concluded that ASN candidates were sympathizers of radical groups based on their statuses.
ASN and law enforcement must absolutely not be associated with terrorism and radicalism. They are strictly forbidden to be radical because they are tantamount to being traitors to the nation. The government is trying to prevent the spread of radicalism and terrorism among ASN by all means, so that state servants do not turn into terrorist cadres.
)* The author is a contributor to the Nusa Bangsa institute