Radicalism in Indonesia: Modelling and Legal Construction

Abstract

Radicalism has been an important topic in countering terrorism. However, despite the deradicalization program in Indonesian Terrorism Law, the legal concept of radicalism is still unclear resulting in the uncertainty of action against the actors. This article aims to examine the model for measuring radicalism and to develop a legal concept about it. It utilizes and elaborates the criteria of intolerance, fanaticism, exclusivity, and revolutionism as the measure of the presence of radicalism. It is argued in this article that in developing a uniform concept of radicalism and guaranteeing legal certainty, it is necessary to regulate the meaning of radicalism. Therefore, the criminal act formulation model is used in formulating the legal concept of radicalism. To be declared as a radical, a person or group shall have met the elements of radicalism set out in the regulations, for example, intolerant, fanatical, exclusive, and revolutionary. Exercised through interviews or surveys, this article objectively develops a measurement of radicalism and clusters it into strongly agree, inclined to agree, tend to disagree, and strongly disagree, to unveil the level of radicalism of a certain people or a group.