PKB get reports of more death threats<\/p>\n
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post , Surabaya<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives plans to summon National Police
\nchief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, as the National Awakening Party (PKB)
\nhas received reports of more death threats made to Muslim clerics
\nin East Java.<\/p>\n
Deputy chairman of PKB Mahfud M.D., speaking in Surabaya on
\nSunday, said anonymous callers had threatened to kill party
\nexecutives and ulemas of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) on East Java's
\nMadura island.<\/p>\n
He said he had been notified of the threats during his visit
\nto Madura on Friday, accompanied by PKB chairman Alwi Shihab.<\/p>\n
Mahfud, a former defense minister, declined to name the
\nclerics who had received death threats.<\/p>\n
Earlier, PKB clerics had reportedly received similar death
\nthreats in the regencies of Gresik and Jember, following the
\nrecent killing of party leader Asmuni Ishak in Lumajang regency.<\/p>\n
Asmuni was stabbed to death after six masked men armed with
\nmachetes broke into his house in Jatiroto subdistrict, on Nov.
\n27. His wife, Siti Mutmainah, survived but was seriously wounded
\nin the attack.<\/p>\n
Asmuni's death followed the murder of Rafiq, a PKB activist,
\nin Jember, earlier that week.<\/p>\n
Mahfud underlined that the recent death threats and the death
\nof Asmuni indicated that PKB and NU members in East Java -- the
\nparty's main stronghold ahead of the 2004 elections -- were
\nclearly in danger.<\/p>\n
\"It's the task of the police to investigate the case
\nthoroughly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Former president Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid, who chairs the
\nPKB board of patrons, Mahfud and other party executives believe
\nthat both the threats and Asmuni's murder were politically
\nmotivated, in a bid to weaken support for the party prior to the
\n2004 elections.<\/p>\n
However, so far, the police have concluded that Asmuni's
\nmurder was not politically motivated.<\/p>\n
\"If it was a non-political crime, as found by the police, we
\nwill be happy because the consequences will not be so severe. But
\nsuch a conclusion must be supported by adequate evidence from
\nsuspects,\" Mahfud said.<\/p>\n
PKB legislator Effendi Choiri said his Commission I in the
\nHouse will summon Da'i Bachtiar and East Java Police chief Insp.
\nGen. Heru Susanto for a hearing on Dec. 15, concerning Asmuni's
\ndeath and the threats made to the clerics.<\/p>\n
\"The police have not completed their reports on this case. So,
\nwe (from Commission I for security and foreign affairs) will ask
\nthem (the police) to settle (the case) thoroughly,\" Effendi
\nadded.<\/p>\n
He criticized the police for concluding that Asmuni's death
\nwas not politically motivated.<\/p>\n
He added that a NU cleric in Gresik (also Effendi's hometown),
\nHasbullah Faqih, had received a death threat from two strangers
\nwho had turned up at his house.<\/p>\n
Separately, PKB secretary general Saifullah Yusuf said the NU-
\naffiliated youth wing Ansor, which he also chairs, has ordered
\nits paramilitary group Banser not to react violently to the
\nthreats.<\/p>\n
He was quoted by Antara as saying that Banser and Ansor
\nmembers had been banned from acting beyond their authority, such
\nas conducting raids. It's the police's job,\" he said.<\/p>\n
East Java Police detective chief Sr. Comr. Sutarman had
\nearlier said Banser members were permitted to protect the ulemas
\nby acting as guards.<\/p>\n
\"It's no problem as long as they do not violate the law. If
\nthey find a crime has been committed they should report it to the
\npolice. Don't take action alone,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Lumajang's PKB executive Abdurrohman said security had been
\ntightened at Islamic boarding schools and the residences of party
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
\"Students and local people are more alert now,\" he said,
\nadding that the move was ordered by East Java's PKB.<\/p>\n
PKB officials have said the latest threats were reminiscent of
\nthe conditions leading up to of the 1999 elections, which
\ncatapulted Gus Dur into the presidency.<\/p>\n
Dozens of Muslim preachers linked to the PKB were beaten or
\nhacked to death in a number of different regencies across East
\nJava in 1999. It was claimed that the clerics were murdered as
\nthey had practiced black magic.<\/p>\n
The killings remain a mystery. Little attempt appears to have
\nbeen made to uncover the truth behind the seemingly organized
\nmurders.<\/p>\n
Attacks on Muslim preachers in East Java, where the PKB won
\nthe 1999 elections, could potentially trigger unrest. The PKB won
\nthe most votes in the province, ahead of President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pkb-get-reports-of-more-death-threats-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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