Indonesians unknowingly fund hardline group behind Bali bombings

Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the al-Qaeda-affiliated group that led the Bali bombings in 2002, has found a new source of income – a network of charity boxes across Indonesia that were only discovered after one of the The group’s leader was discovered along with 23 other members arrested late last year.

The group’s use of the seemingly harmless boxes, located outside of the mini markets in the archipelago and normally used by charities, could be more significant than the arrest of JI leader Zulkarnaen, aka Aris Sumarsono, who has been on the for 18 years Escape is, said analysts.

He is considered one of the oldest members of JI and was instrumental in the attacks on Bali, in which more than 200 people were killed.

“The real big blow to JI is not the arrest of Zulkarnaen, but the discovery of JI’s source of income through illegal and legal ‘charitable work,’” said Noor Huda Ismail, a former member of the hardline group Darul Islam, which has been founded since Das International Peacebuilding Institute is running deradicalization programs and workshops across Indonesia, Al Jazeera said.

“The importance of the arrest is to expose the active JI cells who have been ‘peacefully’ hibernating with peaceful coverages such as foundations, charities and NGOs,” he said.

The inspector general of the National Police Spokeswoman Argo Yuwono told the media in December that police had found more than 20,000 donation boxes in raids in 12 regions of Indonesia, including Jakarta, Lampung, North Sumatra, Yogyakarta, East Java and Maluku.

According to police, in addition to mini markets, donation boxes have also been placed in other locations, including gas stations, restaurants, cafes and shops where millions of Indonesian rupiah are raked every day. The size of the operation appeared to have increased significantly in recent years, authorities said.

Police arrested Zulkarnaen, 57, a senior leader of al-Qaeda-affiliated Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) who was on the run last month for his alleged role in the 2002 Bali bombings [Fajrin Raharjo/AFP]The boxes were legally registered with the Abdurrachman bin Auf Charity Foundation (ABA), but the money didn’t go there.

ABA was a front for JI and some members of the foundation were also arrested, including Fitria Sanjaya, who was arrested after giving Jemaah Islamiyah information about alms boxes and the diversion of funds.

Weapons, training

Speaking to Al Jazeera, former JI employee Arif Budi Setyawan, who has since written a book warning of the dangers of radicalization, said the discovery of the donation boxes marked a marked escalation in the group’s fundraising drives. “They used to have such a donation system, but not as many as they do now and not in public places like mini markets,” he said. “No doubt this has amazed a lot of people, but as a former member of JI, I am only surprised by the sheer numbers [of donations boxes]. ”

There is speculation that Jemaah Islamiyah introduced the new public donation system after failing to raise enough money from its own members who are normally expected to contribute their own money to the group in the form of alms.

Ali Imron, who was imprisoned for life for his role in the Bali bombings in 2003, previously relied on senior donors rather than soliciting public funding. “This method didn’t exist before. We had our own money. For the jihad in Ambon and Poso we had financial help from many sources and for the bomb attack in Bali we had money directly from Osama bin Laden, ”he said.

Police say the funds from the crates were used to buy weapons and explosives, as well as training JI workers in Syria. The group has not been in the spotlight for nearly 10 years but has an estimated 6,000 active cells, according to police Yuwono.

A few weeks before Zulkarnaen was arrested, another senior member of Jemaah Islamiyah, Upik Lawanga, was also arrested. In his home, police discovered an underground bunker containing weapons and bomb-making equipment, leading to fears that the group was planning a new wave of attacks.

In 2014, he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the former leader of the ISIL (ISIS) group who was killed in Syria in October 2019.

According to Ismail, the discovery of the funding network is likely to be only a temporary setback to the group’s ambitions.

“The discovery of JI’s source of funding will temporarily weaken the organization before it can recover and rejuvenate through its massive network in the country,” he said.

“I think JI will transform itself from ‘bullets’ tactics to ‘ballot papers’ by pushing its extremist ideology through politics. Unfortunately, the terrorism threat in Indonesia is not being completely eradicated. What we can do is slow down the growth process and contain its tentacles. “

Former member Setyawan agreed that JI, which was banned in Indonesia in 2008 following continued crackdown by the counter-terrorism forces, should be re-viewed with concern.

“In the short term we shouldn’t fear JI, but in the long term we may have to be careful,” he said. “In particular, we need to examine the relationship between raising funds through thousands of donation boxes in mini markets and discovering homemade weapons in bunkers.”