According to analysts and former members of the group, one of the reasons why Jemaah Islamiyah ( JI ) has survived for more than three decades is the group’s lack of loosely-linked cells.
Also division chief ranges are only known by an amir. Former JI secretary Hadi Masykur told CNA, referring to the group’s leader by its Arabic name, which literally means” commander,” that he does not know who the people who work in these groups are and is not permitted to know.
These units are further divided into smaller groups, and communication between them is kept to a minimum.
The structure makes sure that only the immediate teammates of one member who is arrested may be affected, not the entire network.
Another guard is that once a member is arrested, they are immediately made to feel alienated from the rest of the organization until they can demonstrate that they have not complied with the authorities and are still committed to the JI’s reason.
” It occurred when the officers were focusing on me. The 46-year-old described the days leading up to his 2019 arrest as” I refused to leave my family and go into hiding.” I was soon disconnected from JI.
The principles, Hadi said, use to everyone inside the company regardless of their rates and rank, including the amirs.
According to PAKAR’s Mr. Adhe Bhakti, this method serves as the foundation for some JI members ‘ opposition to the Jun 30 choice.
They” can easily say,” Did n’t we agree that those who were arrested should be treated as outsiders and can no longer speak on our behalf,” they say. ‘”, the violence analyst said.
The only man whose comments carry mass inside JI is the organisation’s ali, Hadi said. The original JI minister had reasons to believe that the organization might be in disarray following Para Wijayanto’s imprisonment in 2019 and his time alternative Arif’s arrest in 2020.
” Arif was the last active senior figure inside JI… the next person who knows the ins and outs of JI”, Hadi, who was released in Sep 2022 after serving a three-and-a-half year prison sentence for his role in JI, said. ” After Arif was arrested, all that was left were the freshmen”.
This puts the 6, 000 active members of JI in a peculiar position, said Dr Noor Huda Ismail, a visiting fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies ( RSIS ).
In the absence of a consensus head, the various cells within JI are free to pursue whatever they want. On the other hand, there is n’t anyone senior enough to support JI’s cause and offer them advice.
Top members of the organization are consulted whenever a cell was about to launch a terror attack. You could say they were buying fatwas (edicts ) from the elders so they could relax knowing that what they were doing was just common criminal behavior, according to Dr. Huda, who spoke to CNA.
Before starting the fatal attacks, authorities believed that the Bali bombings of 2002 involved JI co-founder and then-amir Abu Bakar Baasyir. The lower court in 2005 found Baasyir innocent of crime, but his conviction was overturned on elegance.
Baasyir, 85, was ultimately convicted of aiding a 2010 military training camp in Sumatra. After suffering from a number of conditions related to his old age, his 15-year jail sentence was reduced on humanitarian basis. He was released in 2021 and has since decided to engage with the state.
Dr. Huda of RSIS believes that the 16 top JI people ‘ declaration on June 30 represented a good step in reducing the number of people who can prevent future terrorist attacks.
He added:” The breakdown of JI is good information, a good start, but it’s too early for us to shut the JI book. Hopefully not, but I do n’t think we can rule out the possibility of the formation of splinter groups that might be more violent than JI.