Yuwono still missing as no one claims responsibility<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Ngawi<\/p>\n
The kidnapping of a local political party leader remained a
\nmystery on Monday after both the Islamic militant group Laskar
\nJihad Ahlussunnah wal Jamaah (Holy Warriors) and local police
\ndenied knowing the whereabouts of the Ngawi, East Java-based man.<\/p>\n
Yuwono Susatyo, who chairs the Ngawi sub-branch of President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
\n(PDI Perjuangan), was stabbed and then abducted from his home by
\na group of unidentified men on Saturday as reported by his
\nfamily.<\/p>\n
Ngawi Police chief, Adj. Sr. Com. Yovi said that there were
\nwitnesses who claimed that Laskar Jihad members were behind the
\nabduction.<\/p>\n
"We are still working and collecting all the evidence. Further
\ninvestigations will be carried out by the East Java (provincial)
\nPolice," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.<\/p>\n
Yovi also denied a claim by Laskar Jihad lawyer Muhammad
\nMahendra on Sunday that the group had handed over the abducted
\nactivist to the police.<\/p>\n
Chairman of PDI Perjuangan's Ngawi branch, Budi Sulistyo also
\ndenied Mahendra's statement, claiming it was a joke.<\/p>\n
"We did not accuse Laskar Jihad of doing it but eyewitnesses
\nsaid that the culprits who stabbed and kidnapped Yuwono wore
\ntheir (Laskar Jihad) uniforms," he said.<\/p>\n
The tension in the small town of Ngawi, 120 kilometers east of
\nYogyakarta, heightened over the weekend between local Muslim
\ngroups and the supporters of PDI Perjuangan.<\/p>\n
On Friday, a group of people ransacked and burned the home of
\nlocal Muslim leader Muhyi Effendi, and the next day, Yuwono was
\nkidnapped.<\/p>\n
The incidents took place after some Muslim groups, calling
\nthemselves the Ngawi Islamic Community Forum (FUIN) raided some
\nentertainment spots and gambling dens in the small town of Ngawi.<\/p>\n
Yuwono's family denied allegations that he operated a gambling
\nbusiness, saying he was a building material supplier.<\/p>\n
"We are from a Muslim background. I am planning to take the
\nHaj pilgrimage with him next year," said Yuwono's younger brother
\nYuwono Kartiko.<\/p>\n
Police officers are being deployed in the nearby Mantingan
\narea which borders Central and East Java to prevent an influx of
\nLaskar Jihad members, from other towns to Ngawi.<\/p>\n
Police have arrested some 30 members of Laskar Jihad from
\nSurakarta and Yogyakarta who apparently slipped into Ngawi on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
Separately, in Surakarta, Central Java, chairman of the
\nAhlussunnah wal Jamaah Communication Forum (FKASWJ) a group
\nclosely connected with Laskar Jihad, Ayip Syafruddin, said it had
\nhanded over six people to the Ngawi Police but claimed no
\nknoweldge of Yuwono's whereabouts.<\/p>\n
"We did not kidnap Yuwono. Why do we have to be held
\nresponsible?" he asked.<\/p>\n
"Police have surrounded our office since Friday evening. It
\nwould be strange if police did not notice any of our members
\nsneaking out during the blockade."<\/p>\n
Ayip also said the group had met Megawati to clarify that
\nLaskar Jihad did not have any problems with PDI Perjuangan.<\/p>\n
"We are trying to eradicate vice, not PDI Perjuangan. But
\nunfortunately there are party members who are involved in such
\nvice," he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Yogyakarta, Laskar Jihad sharply criticized East
\nJava police over the arrest of 103 members of the group in Ngawi
\non Sunday. The group called on the police to be fair in handling
\nthe case.<\/p>\n
Eri Ziyad, public relations coordinator from the FKAWJ said
\nhere on Monday that East Java police had committed human rights
\nabuses during the capture of their members on Saturday and
\nSunday.<\/p>\n
"Some members were captured while they were doing their night
\nprayers in the mosque. The police did not even read them their
\nrights," he said.<\/p>\n
"The police captured more than a hundred Laskar Jihad members
\nwho had been fighting to enforce the law, but they released six
\ngamblers whom we handed over to them previously. That deeply
\nconcerns us," he added.<\/p>\n
"We strongly urge the police to be on our side, not on the
\nside of the gamblers," he said.<\/p>",
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