By : Eva Kalyna Audrey )*
It is suspected that social media is still an incubator of radicalism, so the public needs to be vigilant, especially ahead of the 2024 election. With the vigilance of all parties, it is hoped that elections can run safely and smoothly and radicalism can be suppressed
The Special Detachment (Densus) 88 Anti-terror Police have arrested a terrorist suspect with the initials DE in the Bekasi area, West Java. DE was arrested on Jalan Raya Bulak Sentul, RT 07/RW 027, Harapan Jaya, North Bekasi. After investigation, it turned out that DE was an employee of BUMN PT KAI.
Based on the results of the National Police Detachment 88 team’s investigation, DE is known to be a supporter of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). DE is even active in carrying out jihadist propaganda through its social media by providing motivation for jihad and calling for unity in the cause of jihad through its Facebook page.
DE is also a member of the Telegram social media group called BELL4J4R PEDUL1 MUH4JIR. The group is a fundraising group, where DE is known to be the admin and maker of several channels or the Telegram channel ‘Archive Film Documentary and Breaking News’ which is a channel for global terror developments translated into Indonesian.
Not only active on social media, DE also has homemade firearms and ISIS flags which are predominantly black with Arabic writing. In addition, several items such as thick books, a laptop, a number of cellphones and cameras were found which were suspected of being tools for propaganda on social media. In addition to securing these items, Densus 88 investigators also confiscated a number of pieces of evidence, namely a navy blue wallet and a KTP in the name of DE.
Regarding the arrest, PT KAI said it was ready to cooperate with law enforcement officials in the arrest of its employees who were suspected of being terrorists. PT KAI also appreciates the ongoing legal process and will support various efforts to eradicate terrorism. In this case, PT KAI will not tolerate actions that violate the law, especially in cases of terrorism.
PT KAI has also committed to participating in eradicating terrorism crimes within the company by continuing to remind all levels of integrity and nationalism, as well as increasing supervision by related functions.
Head of Operations Special Detachment 88 Anti-terror National Police Chief Comr. Aswin Siregar in his press conference said that in 2014, DE for the first time declared allegiance to the emir of ISIS. Since then the 28-year-old man has become more serious in preparing himself for jihad. DE trains and collects items related to his jihad plans.
It turned out that DE had also joined the West Indonesia Mujahidin (MIB) group. This happened 13 years ago. After MIB disbanded, DE became active and pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2014. It is known that DE pledged allegiance to ISIS before working as an employee of PT KAI, while DE has been an employee of PT KAI since 2016.
Aswin also explained that DE had the enthusiasm to commit a crime of terrorism by planning to attack officers at the Mako Brimob Kelapa Dua, Depok in May 2018 in order to free terrorism convicts (napiters). After that, DE conducted exercises to be able to carry out acts of terrorism. Apart from attacking the police, DE was also said to have wanted to attack the TNI headquarters. DE’s thinking was also influenced by the film about the battle of ghuwairan (the release of convicts in Syria) regarding acts of terrorism.
The police have also secured 16 weapons in DE’s arrest. The weapons that were secured were manufactured and assembled weapons. There were 11 short-barreled guns and 5 long-barreled guns. In addition, the police also secured a number of magazines and their ammunition.
The main director of PT KAI, Didiek Hartyanto, said that DE is the shunting operator at the Jakarta Kota station. He stated that PT KAI has made maximum efforts to detect potential terrorism from an early age, one of which is through cooperation with the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).
The arrest of DE is certainly proof that the perpetrators of terrorism are still in society, so we should all be proportionally vigilant. Moreover, the dangers of terrorism and the spread of radicalism are still around us.
The government must also be more selective in selecting employees, both ASN and BUMN employees. Screening for the nationalism of prospective employees is clearly necessary so that the ASN environment is clean from the virus of radicalism.
Vigilance against the spread of radicalism must be maintained, even though an organization with radical views has been disbanded, it does not mean that radical understanding has also disappeared, in fact those with radical views can choose to join other radical organizations so that radical understanding can target anyone.
)* The author is a contributor to the Cross Nusamedia Institute
