Who Is Munarman, Former Main Secretary Of FPI Who Had Become A Human Rights Defender And Was Inspired By Abu Bakar Ba'asyir

Munarman (Source: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Special Anti-terror Detachment 88 (Densus 88) continues to investigate Munarman's involvement in the interception of a suspected terrorist who is also a sympathizer of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). Munarman is the former General Secretary of FPI. The suspected terrorist in question, Ahmad Aulia, in a video confessed that he had betrayed the Islamic State of Iraq Syria (ISIS). The initiation is said to have been attended by Munarman and a number of other FPI officials.

"Still waiting for the work of Densus 88," said Karo Penmas, Police Public Relations Division, Brigadier General Rusdi Hartono, Friday, February 5.

If Munarman is proven to be involved in the terrorism movement, the police will say they will take action. Condition, with sufficient initial evidence. "But whoever is involved in a criminal act will be held accountable for the law," Rusdi.

A few days ago, a video went viral on social media. The video shows the testimony of Ahmad Aulia, a suspected terrorist who was arrested by the police in Makassar. He was arrested along with a number of other terrorist suspects. The video of Ahmad Aulia's confession was uploaded by the Twitter account @sahaL_AS.

In the video, Ahmad Aulia said: I took allegiance at that time with a hundred sympathizers and the FPI army. At the FPI Makassar headquarters on Jalan Sungai Limboto, Makassar ... I took allegiance to be attended by Munarman as the central FPI committee at that time. Ustaz Fauzan and Ustaz Basri who led the allegiance at that time.

Who is Munarman?

Compiled from various sources, Munarman was born in Palembang, South Sumatra, September 16, 1968. Munarman is the sixth of eleven children. Munarman's father is a retired People's School teacher named H. Hamid. His mother, Nurjanah.

In 1996, Munarman married Ana Noviana. Both of them settled in Palembang. From his marriage to Ana Noviana, Munarman has three children.

Munarman completed his law study discipline at Sriwijaya University, Palembang. Munarman's name was widely known when he joined the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) in Palembang in 1995.

At that time Munarman joined as a volunteer, before being promoted to Head of Operations of YLBHI Palembang in 1997. From there Munarman moved to become Coordinator of Kontras Aceh for the period 1999-2000. Munarman lived in Aceh during that period.

Munarman (Wardhany Tsa Tsia / VOI)

Advocate Munarman's career continued until he became the coordinator of the Kontras Workers Agency. Munarman also moved to the capital city of Jakarta. In September 2002, Munarman was elected as the Chairman of YLBHI.

YLBHI at that time experienced a leadership vacuum for nine months. The previous chairman, Bambang Widjojanto, was dismissed by the YLBHI supervisory board because of his proposal to reform the foundation into an association that was more pro-membership. Munarman was elected with a vote ratio of 17/23.

He defeated another candidate, Daniel Panjaitan, who was then Deputy Director of YLBHI Jakarta. Munarman's candidacy was pushed by the Palembang, Banda Aceh and Lampung LBH. Meanwhile, Daniel was encouraged by LBH Semarang and Jakarta. In October 2002, Munarman was sworn in on the promise of "uniting the members of the foundation."

Munarman's change

From his positions in various NGOs, Munarman's name was built as a civil rights activist. Munarman's figure is also known as anti-militarism. It is far from violent, until a point in time when FPI attacked the National Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Belief (AKKBB). This incident is known as the "Monas incident."

At that time Munarman served as Commander of the Laskar Islam Command. Munarman was even proven to be in the midst of groups beating and intimidating the AKKBB crowd. The existence of Munarman is a big question for many parties.

Munarman, who was previously egalitarian and nationalist, how is it possible to commit such acts of intolerance? Reported by Kompas.com, Monday, February 8, a friend of Munarman, Unggul expressed his views regarding Munarman and the change in attitude. According to him, nothing has changed from Munarman except for the image of the media which has increasingly cornered.

"If anything changes, it will only be the image of the media, which is not consciously driven by certain interests," said Unggul.

Besides Unggul, Munarman's friend who is also a lawyer for the Muslim Defenders Team (TPM), Mahendradatta explained that Munarman is the type of person who firmly defends his beliefs. In the context of himself as Commander of the Laskar Islam Command, Munarman is said to "defend Islam by sticking to the Al-Quran and Hadith," Mahendradatta.

Munarman (Source: Antara)

Mahendradatta also rejected the view that Munarman had metamorphosis. Mahendradatta strengthened Unggul's talk. According to him, views about Munarman's change were only made by the opinion of secular circles. "He also did not make his own interpretation, but it was based on the number (agreement) of the ulama, such as the MUI fatwa," he added.

"It is as if there is a dichotomy between Islam and human rights. He is still a human rights defender in the corridor of Islam," he stressed.

In the aftermath of the Monas incident, in October 2008 Munarman was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison. He was proven to have been involved in the riots in June 2008. Judge Munarman was guilty of criminal acts of violence against people and property, as regulated in Article 170 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code.

After leaving prison, Munarman was not flexible. His tough stance was shown again when he became a guest speaker on the Friday edition of 'What Kabar Indonesia Pagi' on TV One, June 28, 2013. At that time, Munarman shared his narration with University of Indonesia sociologist Tamrin Tomagola about FPI's attitude which often sweeps nightclubs and locations liquor circulation.

At that time Munarman had occupied the position of spokesman for the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). In the middle of the conversation, Munarman was furious, so that he splashed Tamrin's face. The incident took place in the middle of a live program.

"There is already a regional regulation on night entertainment. The rules are clear. Some are not allowed to open at all, some are limited to three hours. So just enforce it. Don't be provoked," said Munarman, interviewed by Viva.co.id.

"This is not a question of opinion. I am talking about being shouted at and told to be silent," Munarman continued, emphasizing that he was not afraid of being prosecuted because of the watering. Since then, Munarman's name has become more widely known, but in an increasingly different image when he held positions in NGOs in the human rights sector.

The issue of being a lawyer for Freeport Indonesia

In 2017, it was widely reported that Munarman was holding a position as a lawyer for PT Freeport Indonesia. The news circulated through a website which later went viral on social media.

The news is confusing. The website does not even clearly state the source on which the issue is based.

What is clear is that Munarman is said to have shares in a company that has shares in PT Freeport Indonesia. Even so, Twitter is still busy.

Munarman denied the news. He lightly said, "Just nationalize. Turn it into a BUMN. That's the problem," said Munarman, written by Detik.

Munarman and Abu Bakar Ba'asyir

There is an interesting statement made by Munarman regarding his changing image. This was conveyed by Munarman in an interview with Refly Harun. Munarman explained that at the beginning he moved to Muslim forums, one of which was being attracted to the values and attitudes of Islamic teachers, including Ustaz Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

"I am a person who is always looking for confirmations. I always try to close the gap between norms, between theory and practice, between speech and action. "The New Order language implements Pancasila purely," he said, quoted Monday, February 8.

In the context of ideology, he sees too many discrepancies - in social literacy and ideological literacy - between one opinion and another in the secular realm. Everyone moves too freely, said Munarman. Normatively, Munarman views the Islamic world as providing a lot of confirmation.

"At that time LBH defended Ustaz Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, there I saw a lot of suitability in his attitudes and statements. What he said and what he did was a little different. The consequences like that were what I did when I made the leap (hijrah), "he said.

Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is the leader of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council. At that time, the LBH chaired by Munarman took a position defending Ba'asyir in the Bali Bombing case. In Munarman's eyes, Ba'asyir was able to show calm and anti-complaining attitude during the legal process, even though he was processed in a sick condition.

"Those are the attitudes of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir that are very interesting and inspiring. As a lawyer, I see that people get many legal problems. This is not complaining. Regardless of his agenda, he is consistent with his attitude. I like being consistent, from thinking to doing, "said Munarman.

Enter FPI

In the interview, Munarman also explained how he joined FPI. The relationship between Munarman and FPI began when a combination of Islamic mass organizations guarded the rejection of the price hike of fuel oil (BBM).

Munarman had also been prosecuted with FPI Grand Imam Habib Rizieq Shihab. "I, as the person in charge of the class, must be responsible for the clash. I was tried, incidentally, together with Habib Rizieq, was processed, sentenced to one year and six months."

In the confinement, Munarman's cell was next to Rizieq's cell. Nine months, until he was transferred to an open prison. According to Munarman, he learned many aspects of religious knowledge from Rizieq, starting from praying procedures to thinking and different schools of thought.

Rizieq's ideology also inspired Munarman. He called Rizieq a nationalist figure. "From the HRS speech about moral revolution in the perspective of Pancasila. His middle mind is there, he's not extreme. Ideologically, he is not extreme, he is azwaja, indeed in the middle from a social science perspective, ”said Munarman.

Out of prison in 2009, Munarman communicated more intensively with Rizieq. Munarman was also offered to actively join the FPI. "Since 2009, I finally became the department heads. First the Head of Nahi-Munkar 2009-2013, "Munarman.

"After that, because there were quite a lot of references to me, I became Chairman of the Expert Council, became a council of experts until 2015, and continued as Chair of the Organizational Division to organize FPI to make it structurally more agile. After that, I was asked to become the general secretary," he explained.

Profile

Full name

Munarman, SH.

Place and date of birth

Palembang, 16 September 1968

Age

52 years

Citizenship

Indonesia

Couple

Ana Noviana

Education

Sriwijaya University (1994)

Other Figures