FBR raid nightspots, make threats<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
About 150 members of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) raided a
\nnumber of nightspots in Cilincing area, Muara Baru and North
\nJakarta, early Sunday morning, ordering the venue's owners to
\nshut down business within a week.<\/p>\n
Mostly on motorcycles, the group of men claiming to be native
\nJakartans, threatened to return the following week to see whether
\nthe bars and entertainment spots -- which they said were immoral
\nand existed due to non-Jakartans -- were still running.<\/p>\n
\"These places are obscene ... If they have not closed when we
\nreturn, we will burn them down,\" one of the members, Situ, said.
\nThe group dispersed at about 2 a.m. while patrolling police
\nofficers watched from a distance.<\/p>\n
None of the nightspots' owners were available for comment.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Makbul Padmanegara said on
\nSunday morning that civilians had no right to take the law into
\ntheir own hands and that the police would closely investigate the
\nmatter.<\/p>\n
FBR has become known in the city for their repeated hostility
\ntoward the Urban Poor Consortium and its leader Wardah Hafidz,
\nwho have strongly criticized the city administration's
\ndiscriminatory policies toward the poor.<\/p>\n
The latest attack by the FBR was on the office of the National
\nCommission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) last year. A Komnas HAM
\nstaff member and several people, who were filing a complaint with
\nthe rights commission, were injured.<\/p>\n
The Central Jakarta District Court, in April, sentenced six
\nFBR members to six months in jail for instigating the attack and
\ndamaging the Komnas HAM office.<\/p>\n
Jakartans witnessed a string of attacks on bars and
\nrestaurants here by members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI)
\nseveral years ago, until the police arrested FPI's leader Habib
\nRizieq Shihab on Oct. 16, 2002.<\/p>\n
The arrest was made days after the FPI disbanded in the
\naftermath of the Bali bombings. But the group reformed early this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Rizieq said his actions were motivated by Islamic teachings,
\nand that the venues, that sold alcohol, were places of sin.<\/p>\n
The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Rizieq to seven
\nmonths in prison for causing unrest among the community and
\ndisturbing public order last August.<\/p>\n
Having already spent four months in police custody, Rizieq is
\nset to be released from Salemba Prison, Central Jakarta, in
\nNovember.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fbr-raid-nightspots-make-threats-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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