Police release 12 alleged NII followers<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
West Java Police said here on Tuesday that they had released 12
\nout of 17 detainees arrested for campaigning for an Islamic
\nIndonesian State (NII) due to insufficient evidence to hold them
\nbehind bars.<\/p>\n
The remaining five were still being detained at West Java
\nPolice Headquarters pending further investigations, the
\nprovincial police's chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Soenaryono
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said that two of the five detainees, identified only by
\ntheir initials Y. and H. were leaders of the movement and were
\nresponsible for the recruitment of new members.<\/p>\n
The three others were cadres being trained as recruiters, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Soenaryono said he was unable to determine whether the
\nsuspects were linked with the Al-Zaetun Islamic boarding school
\nin the West Java town of Indramayu, which parents have accused of
\nteaching a deviant form of Islam.<\/p>\n
The school, led by Abu Toto, is also suspected of serving as
\nthe headquarters of the NII movement.<\/p>\n
West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Sudirman Ail said the 12
\nmovement members had been released on Monday night because there
\nwas not enough evidence with which to charge them.<\/p>\n
Those released -- who hailed from Yogyakarta, Jakarta,
\nSukabumi in West Java, and Bontang in East Kalimantan -- were
\nstudents of various universities and colleges based in Bandung.<\/p>\n
\"Based on our investigations, they were only victims although
\nthey admitted they were not forced to attend sermons organized by
\nthe suspects. They also confessed that they were never cheated or
\nblackmailed,\" Sudirman said.<\/p>\n
\"So, we don't have any reason to detain them, though it has
\nbeen clear that they are members of the NII movement,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Besides, he said there was no legal basis to charge them under
\nthe country's prevailing laws as the antisubversion law had been
\nrepealed several years ago.<\/p>\n
\"In the past, we could arrest someone intending to establish a
\nstate within the state on subversion charges. But now, how can we
\ncharge them?\" Sudirman said.<\/p>\n
However, he said the police were still seeking more evidence
\nto enable them to charge the five suspects following complaints
\nagainst them from local people.<\/p>\n
\"We will also release the five others if there is no strong
\nevidence that they have violated the Criminal Code,\" he promised.<\/p>\n
The 17 members of NII Region-9 (NII KW-9) had been arrested on
\nSunday evening during a raid on a house located at Jl. Sukarajin
\nIII No.18 in Central Bandung.<\/p>\n
Central Bandung Police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Irianto
\nsaid the arrests followed a tip-off from neighbors who were
\nsuspicious of people staying there and their guests.<\/p>\n
The police also confiscated some evidence, including documents
\non the NII's history, vision and mission.<\/p>\n
Residents said the house, which is owned by Wartomo, had been
\nrented by the suspects for about six months with the annual rent
\nbeing Rp 6 million.<\/p>\n
The NII is the subject of an investigation by the National
\nPolice. Minister of Religious Affairs Said Aqil Munawwar has
\nvowed to close Al-Zaetun should it be proven to harbor NII
\nleaders and activists.<\/p>\n
Bandar Lampung police also arrested seven people suspected of
\nbeing NII members on Jan. 29 after they robbed a gas station in
\nSampurnajaya Kalibalangan.<\/p>\n
The NII followers claim they are the new generation of the
\nmilitant Darul Islam group, whose leader Sekarmaji Marijan
\nKartosuwiryo proclaimed the establishment of an NII in 1949.<\/p>\n
Kartosuwiryo was executed by the then-president Sukarno's
\nadministration in 1962 after several bloody rebellions in Java,
\nSumatra and Sulawesi.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-release-12-alleged-nii-followers-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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