Recent reports have highlighted how jihadists are even more successful once they are inside a country's prison system. One particular case was that of Aman Abdurrahman who was first arrested in 2004. While his jihadi activities outside of prison have been quite unremarkable, it was his entry into the Indonesian prison system that really enhanced his network to other like-minded people.
Mr. Aman spent 12 years in prison. While imprisoned, he was able to run his militant propaganda campaign in his jail. He was able to translate around 115 articles from various Islamic State publications into the Indonesia language and then publish it online. He was also able to recruit volunteers to join the fight in Syria. What is even more interesting about these actions was the fact that he made all of it while serving his jail time. Mr. Aman was considered one of the most important ideological recruiters in Indonesia.
Many political analysts fear that the like of Mr. Aman will continue to flourish in Indonesian prisons unless prison regulations are put in place. What is even more interesting about this issue is the fact that Indonesia recently adopted a new law which will put more radicals in prison.
Indonesia has 477 prisons which were originally planned to house 125,000 inmates. Currently, more than 254,000 prisoners are interred into the prison system. This resulted in a very overcrowded prison system. One particular facility located in the Indonesian province of South Kalimantan house more than 2,450 prisoners, despite the fact that the facility was built to house only 366 inmates. A prison officer from a high-security prison in Jakarta recently said that some prison systems cram 15 inmates in a cell measuring nine square meters, and was originally intended to hold three people.
Indonesia was rocked by several bombings since the start of the year. One of the most damaging happened in May, and as part of the government's effort to curb jihadist operations, the country revised its anti-terrorism law. Based on the revision, government authorities can pre-emptively arrest and hold a suspected terrorist for up to three weeks. A judge can even extend the detention for up to 290 days.
The revision resulted in a massive spike in arrests. Despite this, only 466 people were convicted under the new terrorism law in Indonesia. With the growing number of arrests and the absence of prison reforms, many analysts believe that the spread of radical ideas will continue to thrive in Indonesia's prison system.
