21 members of Islamic state movement arrested<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested 21 men who declared
\nthemselves members of the banned Indonesian Islamic State
\nmovement in a raid Tuesday at a house in Pondok Gede, Bekasi.<\/p>\n
City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said the suspects were
\ndetained based on evidence that they had allegedly undermined the
\nstate and its government by spreading stories that an Islamic
\nstate had been founded to replace the Republic of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"They were listening to a speech delivered by their leader
\nwhen the police raided the place.<\/p>\n
"In his speech, the leader said that an Islamic state has been
\nfounded here, thus only Islamic values and regulations were to be
\nobeyed," Hamami said.<\/p>\n
The man who acted as the leader of the group was identified as
\nWardiman, said Hamami after a ceremony promoting 260 Jakarta
\npolice officers.<\/p>\n
Bekasi police chief Lt. Col. Adjie Ramdja, who also attended
\nyesterday's ceremony, said the suspects were now being detained
\nat the City Police Headquarters for further interrogation.<\/p>\n
Preliminary police investigations revealed that the men had
\nstayed together at the house for about four months, said Adjie.<\/p>\n
Both Hamami and Adjie, however, refused to identify the other
\nsuspects.<\/p>\n
According to Adjie, the house where the suspects were busted
\nTuesday afternoon was only 70 square meters in area and located
\nin a public housing complex, which is also home to many military
\nand police personnel.<\/p>\n
Adjie declined to identify the complex. "I don't remember the
\nname," he said.<\/p>\n
He said police initially disbelieved where the members of the
\nbanned Indonesian Islamic State movement, better known as NII,
\nwere staying.<\/p>\n
"No one could believe that such a group could exist in a
\nneighborhood where many military and police members also live,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
"Their activities were also hard to be detect because the
\nhouse had been equipped with devices to reduce noise so that
\nother people would not be able to hear any of the discussions or
\nspeeches delivered daily by their leader."<\/p>\n
Police also confiscated several religious books and a leaflet
\nfrom the group.<\/p>\n
"The leaflet contains the text of the 1949 proclamation of the
\nmovement with the initials SMK printed in the lower part of it,"
\nAdjie said.<\/p>\n
SMK is likely to be an abbreviation of Sekarmadji Maridjan
\nKartosuwirjo, the founder of the movement, he said.<\/p>\n
According to the government-sponsored book 30 Tahun Indonesia
\nMerdeka (30 years of Indonesian Independence), Kartosuwirjo
\nproclaimed the birth of NII in Tasikmalaya, West Java, in
\n1949.<\/p>\n
The book says that he led his group of extremists, mostly from
\nWest Java, to a number of provinces across the country in an
\nattempt to persuade Indonesian Army members to destroy the
\nrepublic and set up an Islamic state.<\/p>\n
During police questioning, Wardiman confessed that he and his
\nmembers had never made any contact with their neighbors, Adjie
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Wardiman said there was another man who he called guru. But he
\nsaid he had no idea where the guru was, said Adjie, who refused
\nto disclose the name of Wardiman's guru.<\/p>\n
Wardiman said that he often sold dolls or children's clothes
\nwhen not giving speech, Adjie said.<\/p>\n
Hamami said the police would bring the case to the court soon.<\/p>\n
"The men will be charge under Article 169 of the Criminal Code
\nfor participating in an illegal organization."<\/p>\n
If found guilty, each of the arrested men faces a maximum of
\nsix years imprisonment.<\/p>\n
"So far, we have yet to relate the men's activities to acts of
\nsubversion," Hamami said. (cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/21-members-of-islamic-state-movement-arrested-1447893297",
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