JP\/5\/sect<\/p>\n
Police charge 12 doomsday sect leaders<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nBandung<\/p>\n
Police here detained on Tuesday 12 leaders of a Christian
\n\"doomsday\" sect for questioning as suspects charged with false
\nreligious teaching that may have led to mass suicide.<\/p>\n
The detainees could face five years in prison if proven guilty
\nof violating Article 156 (a) of the Criminal Code on the misuse
\nor besmirching of a religion, they added.<\/p>\n
\"We detained only 12 people, who claimed to be prophets
\nplaying a key role in spreading the Sibuea teaching,\" Bandung
\nPolice chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eko Hadi Sutedjo said, referring to
\nthe Sibuea church.<\/p>\n
He said they included Michael and Daniel, sons of the sect's
\ntop leader, Mangapin Sibuea, detained since Oct. 23 on charges of
\ndisgracing religion.<\/p>\n
Sibuea, 59, who calls himself the Apostle Paulus II, announced
\nin January that \"doomsday\" would take place on Nov. 10, 2003.<\/p>\n
The 12 suspects were among 183 followers of the sect removed
\nby police on Monday as they gathered inside the Sibuea Church to
\nawait \"Judgment Day,\" scheduled for 3 p.m. the same day.<\/p>\n
The removal was assisted by local Christian church leaders.<\/p>\n
Many of the 283 followers, including children and women, came
\nfrom the provinces of Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi and East Nusa
\nTenggara.<\/p>\n
Except for the 12 charged suspects, other members would be
\nsent home so they could rejoin their respective churches, Sutedjo
\nsaid. \"We consider them to be misguided victims of improper
\nreligious teaching.\"<\/p>\n
He said the police had also seized as evidence hundreds of
\nsharp weapons, such as knives, scissors and razor blades, as well
\nas books and VCDs at the \"Prophet House,\" where the followers had
\ngathered since Friday.<\/p>\n
The doomsday followers were evacuated because the police
\nfeared they could commit mass suicide if the apocalypse did not
\noccur as expected.<\/p>\n
The police entered the Sibuea church, located on Jl. Siliwangi
\n73, Bandung, shortly after the 3 p.m. deadline passed for the
\n\"end of the world.\"<\/p>\n
The sect had been banned by the West Java Prosecutor's Office
\nin 1999 and declared illegal.<\/p>\n
In 2000, a similar doomsday sect emerged in the Central Java
\nregency of Rembang, where a group allowed free sex for followers
\nand obliged its female members to engage in sexual relations with
\nthe group's leaders.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp5sect-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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