NU disappointed in police probe<\/p>\n
SURABAYA (JP): Leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), some of whose
\nmembers have been victims in the mysterious killing spree which
\nhas hit eleven East Java regencies, have said they are
\ndisappointed with the police and will from now on take part in
\ninterrogation of suspects.<\/p>\n
Around 2,000 members and elders of the country's largest
\nIslamic organization gathered at Langitan boarding school in
\nTuban on Wednesday. They discussed the murder spree and the
\nterror spread by unknown groups of masked people who originally
\ntargeted those accused of sorcery but later turned on Islamic
\nteachers.<\/p>\n
The chief of the Brawijaya Regional Military Command, Maj.
\nGen. Djoko Subroto, and East Java Police chief Maj. Gen. M. Dayat
\nalso attended the meeting.<\/p>\n
During the gathering, NU's Banyuwangi chapter said it believed
\n148 people have now been targeted in the mysterious attacks. Of
\nthe 148, 101 people died, 33 escaped, 7 sustained severe injuries
\nwhile seven others were only lightly injured.<\/p>\n
A total of 96 people were members and elders of Nahdlatul
\nUlama, including Koranic teachers, it was reported.<\/p>\n
\"We call on the authorities to be more transparent in their
\nwork and to act quickly to reveal who the perpetrators are,\" said
\nthe chairman of NU's East Java chapter, Hasyim Muzadi. \"This is
\nno longer the case of a witch hunt, but a campaign of terror
\nagainst Moslems. Organized terror against Moslems.\"<\/p>\n
It was also revealed at the meeting that 36 people have died
\nin the neighboring regency of Jember.<\/p>\n
The participants raised concern in the meeting over how police
\nsometimes released suspects from custody without giving the
\npublic an account of the matter. They complained that police had
\nannounced they had made more than 100 arrests but disclosed no
\nmore details.<\/p>\n
They said that because they could no longer trust the
\nauthorities, they would take it upon themselves to also
\ninterrogate the suspects, although it was not stated how they
\nintended to make the necessary arrangements for this.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Jakarta, an interim investigation report released
\nby the United Development Party (PPP) concluded the ongoing
\nmurder spree was engineered and organized by professionals.<\/p>\n
PPP secretary-general Tosari Widjaya said in a media
\nconference on Wednesday that the PPP fact-finding team had found
\nevidence of a third party's involvement in the murders in
\nBanyuwangi and Jember.<\/p>\n
\"Local people were terrorized or agitated by mysterious phone
\ncallers to get involved in the murder spree against the alleged
\npractitioners of black magic,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added the tactics used by the agitators revealed they could
\nnot have been ordinary members of the public.<\/p>\n
\"While the police were about to arrest a group of people who
\nwere beating and torturing an alleged practitioner of black
\nmagic, another group attacked a police station to demand the
\nrelease of a suspect being held in custody,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Tosari hinted the agitators were not local people, but
\noutsiders.<\/p>\n
\"Witnesses saw them carrying Citizens' Band (CB) radios. None
\nof them spoke local dialects,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Separately here on Wednesday, Munir, the coordinator of the
\nCommission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras)
\ncriticized local security authorities for allowing the killings
\nto spread from Banyuwangi into other regions.<\/p>\n
Police have so far identified 11 regencies in East Java in
\nwhich killings have taken place, but similar murders have also
\ntaken place in Demak in Central Java and Serang in West Java.<\/p>\n
\"The evacuation of alleged black magic practitioners will only
\nmean that people seek them out in their new places of abode,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Munir also said there was evidence of the presence of
\n\"hoodlums\" from Jakarta in areas where the murders took place.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and
\nSecurity Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung confirmed the government has
\nfound indications that the killings are linked to \"communist
\nvengeance\", but stated that further investigation was being
\nundertaken by a team sent by the Armed Forces (ABRI) headquarters
\nearlier this week.<\/p>\n
\"Hopefully, we will shortly come up with a clearer explanation
\nof the matter,\" Feisal told journalists after being sworn in as a
\nnew member of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
He dismissed reports that the state apparatus has been slow to
\nresponding to the slaughter, saying: \"It could just be that the
\nreports came to you late.\"<\/p>\n
Feisal also dismissed reports that the government had
\nengineered the killings, but promised the ABRI investigators team
\nwould check to see if there was any \"political agenda\" behind the
\nkillings. (nur\/43\/aan\/imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/nu-disappointed-in-police-probe-1447893297",
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