INDONESIA: THE DANGER OF MIDDLE-AGED RECIDIVISTS

[Jakarta, 20 February 2025] The lives of three men in their fifties – two recently arrested, one about to be released – suggest that the risk of a resurgence of violent extremism in Indonesia may depend on how well authorities can manage multi-generational homegrown groups that have never wavered in their desire for an Islamic state.

Indonesia: The Danger of Middle-Aged Recidivists, the latest – and last report of IPAC as we come to a close after twelve years – examines the trajectories of three men, all recidivists, who came of age in the immediate post-Soeharto era, when Indonesia was wracked by communal conflict in Ambon and Poso. Two, Abu Umar and Saiful Muhtohrir, had joined the old Darul Islam insurgency in their early twenties, long before the Ambon conflict erupted, but both went to fight there. The third, Sulthon Qolbi joined Mujahidin KOMPAK to fight in Ambon and then stayed there to live. Saiful and Sulthon both became ISIS supporters, but Abu Umar, who was opposed to ISIS during his first stint in prison, was more interested after his release in uniting all groups committed to an Islamic state in Indonesia than in supporting the global jihad per se.

“The history of these men is a reminder that’s it not just the young hotheads surfing the Internet who may be interested in violence,” says Sidney Jones, senior adviser to IPAC. “It’s also the older militants who saw sectarian conflict first hand and became convinced that only an Islamic state could prevent its recurrence.”

Abu Umar was released in 2019 after serving most of a ten-year sentence. He began immediately getting back in touch with his old associates and was rearrested in late 2023. Sulthon Qolbi was released in 2018 after serving most of a 15-year sentence and was rearrested in late 2024 in Ngruki, Solo for leading pro-ISIS discussions for a group that included a few other former prisoners.  Saiful Muhtohrir, who is still considered high-risk, will be released later this month.