I've been thinking about this since i saw it aired on TV3 prime time over the weekend, and after reading Nik Nazmi's recent post, i feel a need to respond.
From the Malay Mail:
bq. On Friday night, four Malaysian JI members held in Indonesia – Mohamed Nasir Abbas, Amran Mansor, Jaafar Anwarul and Shamsul, confessed to their involvement in the clandestine network.
bq. In the pre-recorded televised confession, they said they were misled into believing a new brand of Islam propagated by JI.
bq. They said they were repentant over their involvement to which they no longer subscribed, due to its fanatical ideologies.
Airing the interview has enranged some because it amounts to "trial by media" and it "endangers or jeopardises the rights of the others" -- the others in this case refers to the 10 other alleged JI members currently being held in Kamunting under ISA (the 4 who confessed are being detained in Indonesia).
The lawyer for the 10 alleged JI members here was very upset:
The lawyer representing 10 suspected Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Kumpulan Militant Malaysia (KMM) members claims that the confessions of four Malaysian JI members aired on TV3 last Friday could subjudice his clients' appeals.Edmund Bon said the comments made by the four were "unfair and bordered on the issue of contempt of court as the existence of JI and allegations of the 10 involved in JI-related activities are still being debated in court." Bon said he and his team of lawyers were considering filing an application for contempt of court proceeedings on the programme.
Bon, who is also representing Idris Salim and Roshelmi Sharif – two former Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) lecturers suspected of being JI members held under ISA, said one of the four who confessed, Shamsul Bahri Hussein's statement had implicated his clients as JI recruits.
Shamsul in his confession, said Idris, Roshelmi and some UTM lecturers were involved, together with him, in JI.
"Shamsul's confession was inaccurate and embellished, and TV3 should not have aired it." He said the relationship involving Shamsul, Idris and Roshelmi was merely flitting acquaintances and "they hardly knew each other well." Bon claimed that Idris and Roshelmi had never been in JI, or knew of the existence of the organisation.
There's a fine balance in this case: Bon has a point -- such a public confession hasn't done his clients any favours; obviously someone is lying, either his clients are or Shamsul on tv was. But this sort of thing happens all the time in the criminal justice system: a member of the gang, in order to plead leniency, or even in some cases, protection, fingers others in the gang so that the whole gang can be brought down. If Bon's clients are innocent, the facts of evidence will exonerate them, regardless of the allegations made by an alleged JI member. If evidence is not on their side, then the confession by Shamsul is just another nail in their guilty coffin.
The other side of the scale lies in the moral and education this program has provided to the Malaysian people, and i believe that alone justifies its airing. By their own admission, the "JI 4" joined JI because they were duped by its false message. Its possible to imagine that they did what they did because they didn't know any better (although this doesn't excuse their actions). By telling their story, it serves as an ample warning and lesson to others: be careful when approached by extreme brands of religionism.
The Malaysian people needed to hear and see what they did last weekend. Perhaps, now, others will not be so gullible when the next Jemaah-Islamiah-Al-Qaeda-wannabe tries to recruit them.
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