Seven more named suspects in Cianjur attack<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
West Java Police named on Wednesday seven more people as suspects
\nin an attack on properties owned by a controversial Muslim sect
\nin Cianjur, West Java, on Monday night. A total of 12 people have
\nnow been named as suspects in the attack.<\/p>\n
Cianjur Police deputy chief Comr. Rudi Marfianto said the
\nseven suspects lived near the Ahmadiyah sect in Cianjur regency.<\/p>\n
\"All 12 of the suspects, including the seven (named on
\nWednesday), are charged with violating Article 170 of the
\nCriminal Code on assault, which carries a maximum sentence of
\nfive years in prison,\" said Marfianto.<\/p>\n
The 12 suspects are thought to be among the hundreds of people
\nwho attacked mosques, houses and cars belonging to the Ahmadiyah
\nsect in Campaka district, some 120 kilometers southeast of
\nJakarta. It was reported that the mob, mostly local residents and
\nstudents at a local Muslim boarding school, vandalized four
\nmosques, 33 houses, four elementary schools and three cars.<\/p>\n
West Java Police arrested 48 people immediately after the
\nattack, but after questioning only named 12 suspects.<\/p>\n
The West Java chapter of the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation
\n(JAI) strongly condemned the attack. Abdul Wahab, an executive at
\nthe JAI, also asked why Ahmadiyah members were under attack now
\nalthough the group has been in the country since 1953.<\/p>\n
A religious leader in West Java shared Wahab's concern.
\nReligious leader Sofyan Yahya called on all Muslims to maintain
\nrestraint and remain coolheaded. Sofyan, the chairman of the West
\nJava chapter of Nadhlatul Ulama, the country's largest Islamic
\ngroup, said taking the law into one's own hands was
\ncounterproductive and would only tarnish the image of Islam.<\/p>\n
Another religious leader, Hafids Utsman, the head of the West
\nJava chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), also called
\non people not to resort to violence to resolve their disputes. He
\nurged the public to let the government and the police deal with
\nproblems stemming from differences of faith.<\/p>\n
The attack on Monday was the latest against Ahmadiyah, which
\nwas recently branded as heretical by the MUI, the highest
\nauthority on Islam in the country. Members of Ahmadiyah, unlike
\nmainstream Muslims, believe that the last prophet was not the
\nProphet Muhammad but Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who founded the sect in
\nthe 19th century in what is now Pakistan. Ahmadiyah property was
\nattacked in July in Parung, Bogor, West Java. No arrests have
\nbeen made in connection with this earlier attack.<\/p>\n
While Indonesian Muslims generally follow a tolerant version
\nof the faith, some hard-line Muslim groups have been making
\ninroads in the country.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/seven-more-named-suspects-in-cianjur-attack-1447893297",
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