"Islamic State of Indonesia" Dismantled in West Sumatra

TheIndonesia.id - Investigators of the Special Detachment (Densus) 88 Anti-terror Police revealed that the Islamic State of Indonesia (NII) network in West Sumatra was trying to overthrow the sovereign Indonesian government before the 2024 General Election. in West Sumatra, police found this network had more than 1,000 members.

According to the Head of the Operational Assistance Section (Kabagbanops) of the Special Detachment 88 Anti-terror Police Grand Commissioner Aswin Siregar, the NII West Sumatra network has the same vision and mission as the ceased NII Kartosuwiryo, namely replacing the Pancasila ideology and the current Indonesian government system with Islamic law, the caliphate system, and Islamic law.

"From some pieces of evidence found in the form of written documents, it shows that the NII network in West Sumatra has the exact same vision and mission as NII Kartosuwiryo," said Siregar, Monday, April 18, 2022.

The plan to overthrow the government was obtained from the information the suspects gave to investigators and evidence found at the location of the arrest. "The evidence found also shows several plans being prepared by the West Sumatra NII network, namely efforts to overthrow a sovereign government before the 2024 election year," said Siregar.

He said NII West Sumatra has many plans. There is also a potential threat in the form of a terror attack which is stated in the form of orders to prepare sharp weapons (machetes) and also look for blacksmiths. "The finding of evidence directed at the preparation of the machete is in sync with the finding of evidence of a long machete belonging to one of the suspects," he said.

Siregar said investigators were still investigating the information from the suspects.

In March 2022, 16 members of the NII network were arrested in 2 places in West Sumatra Province, in Dharmasraya Regency and Tanah Datar Regency. Law enforcement against members of the NII network in West Sumatra Province is carried out as an effort to reveal the structure and suppress the development of the NII network both at the regional level to the national level.

"This is important considering that the development of the NII network has spread massively in various regions in Indonesia, including in Jakarta, Tangerang, West Java, Bali, Sulawesi, Maluku, and also West Sumatra," said Aswin.

The suspects who had been arrested in West Sumatra provided information that the structure of the NII had reached the branch/district level or CV IV/Padang in terms of their organization. They have 1,125 members, of which around 400 are active personnel and the rest are non-active (already in allegiance but not yet actively involved in NII activities) which can be activated at any time if necessary.

NII Branch IV/Padang is divided into 5 branches/UD, each with about 200 members. Of the total number in West Sumatra, 833 people are spread out in Dharmasraya Regency and 292 people in Tanah Datar Regency.

Siregar explained that NII members' recruitment was carried out in a structured and systematic manner. To become an NII citizen, a person must go through 4 stages of recruitment which are called "pencorakan" namely P1 (decreasing 1), P2, PL/P3, and P4.

The anti-terror unit also detected potential terror threats by NII in West Sumatra, including the desire to change the ideology of Pancasila with the ideology of Islamic Sharia in a holistic manner. They have the intention to overthrow the legitimate government if the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is in a state of chaos.