Indonesian ex-terror convict and JI bombmaking instructor is now a PhD holder

He says academic work is much harder than making bombs.

MALANG: Now a new PhD holder, an Indonesian former terror convict and bombmaking instructor linked to the 2002 Bali bombings said academic work was much harder than making bombs. 

Ali Fauzi (pictured) said he was grateful and proud to be able to earn a doctorate after completing the tough requirements at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) in Malang City, East Java province, according to reports. 

He said he was desperate and wanted to drop out in the middle of the academic road because his dissertation entitled “Religious Moderation for Ex-Convicts” had to undergo several revisions.

According to him, it was much easier to assemble bombs than to write his academic journals and dissertation.

"Yes, I was an expert. My last position was at Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in East Java, I was the chief bomb assembly instructor,” Detik quoted him as saying in Bahasa Indonesia. 

“So, I was an expert at assembling 1 kilo, even one container (of explosives) is normal. For me it's much easier than writing journals, completing dissertations.

"I almost gave up, in the fourth semester I wanted to withdraw. It was so troublesome that I got headaches, because there were too many revisions,” Ali said after a graduation procession at the UMM campus, Tuesday.

JI was responsible for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 204 people and a number of other terror attacks in Indonesia.

Because of this obstacle, Ali said he decided to drop out and return to his hometown Lamongan, luckily, he got motivation and encouragement from his academic advisors on campus.

"I communicated again with the advisers, there were Prof. Isamuddin, Prof. Syamsul Arifin, Dr. Abdul Haris. They motivated me,” he said.

“'This is too far already, why do you have to go home? This is already halfway done. What do you dare do? Fight fear,'” Ali recalled the words of his advisors at the time.

Ali absorbed the encouragement, cancelled the trip home and returned to his dissertation until it was finished and successfully earned his doctorate.

"That's right, I think. I am a combatant, a soldier, that's what keeps me going. If only it wasn't for the encouragement and motivation from the advisers, it might not have arrived,” said Ali. 

“So when I was greeted as the representative of the graduates, I cried, I was touched, I used to be thrown away, hated but I was still accepted," said Ali, asking for the interview to end because he was crying.

Ali, who earlier completed his Masters in Islamic Education, took part in the 107th graduation procession at the UMM. Ali finished his doctorate in 3.5 years with an A grade.

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