It is not easy to make the 76 terror convicts return to NKRI. We need struggle to do so.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Seventy-six terror convicts have declared their loyalty to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), a Law and Human Rights Ministry official has said.

“Until August 20, 2021, a total of 76 (terror convicts) have declared loyalty to NKRI,” Director General of Correctional Facilities at the Law and Human Rights Ministry Inspector General Reynhard Silitonga said.

Thus, the number of convicts confessing their mistakes and declaring loyalty to NKRI has surpassed the annual target of 50 terror, he said in a general lecture on “Thwarting Global Terrorism”, organized by the Post-Graduate Law Study Program at the Indonesian Christian University via videoconferencing app Zoom on Monday.

However, it is not easy for many terror convicts to do so, he added.

Silitonga, a former vice director of the special crime investigation unit of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, disclosed that a total of 454 terror convicts, including 12 women, are still serving their jail term as of August 20, 2021.

One terror convict lodged at the female correctional facility in Pondok Bambu, East Jakarta has shown reluctance to communicate with others, he informed.

This suggests that deradicalization of terror convicts to make them aware of their mistakes and declare loyalty to NKRI is not an easy task, he said.

“It is not easy to make the 76 terror convicts return to NKRI. We need struggle to do so,” he remarked.

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The directorate general of correctional facilities is cooperating with the National Police’s anti-terror squad, Densus 88, and the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) for deradicalizing terror convicts, he disclosed.

He then outlined several challenges faced in deradicalizing terror convicts. The first challenge is their refusal to change, since they feel comfortable with their previous life and stick to their ideology, he noted.

The next challenge is that they are worried about their financial capability if set free, he said.

“The last challenge is the lack of public participation to support terror convicts’ social re-integration,” he added.

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Translator: Muhammad JF, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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