Acehnese women protest extortion, corruption cases

Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

In a rare event in war-torn Aceh, more than 40 traders, all women, held a protest march in Banda Aceh against extortion and the local administration's corruption of government subsidies.

The protesters marched from near the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque to the governor's office holding banners protesting the blackmailing of small-scale traders in traditional markets.

They also protested the discriminative distribution of financial assistance to local traders.

Rally coordinator Zainabon said many officials in the city administration did not distribute financial assistance to local traders fairly.

"The government has allocated Rp 30 billion to empower small- scale traders and roadside vendors but so far most of the funds have been distributed to officials' cronies and families," she said during a free speech forum in Simpang Lima.

She also called on local security authorities to crack down on hoodlums and unauthorized city officials who extorted traders and roadside vendors in the city.

A senior official at the governor's office, who asked for anonymity, supported the protest rally, saying many local officials' families and cronies had corrupted the money.

"The rally is a strong indication that the extortion has been a major problem among the traders because such protests have happened very rarely," he said.

Following the mounting tension between the security authorities and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) since 1998, many locals have been reluctant to hold protest marches.

The rally proceeded while a ceremony was held to mark the recent revival of the Iskandar Muda Military Command overseeing the province, at the military command's headquarters in the city.

On Tuesday, the Iskandar Muda Military Command supervising the province also installed their headquarters in a thanksgiving ceremony, locally known as peusojuek

In the ceremony, Brig. Gen. M. Djali Yusuf, chief of the military command warned the militant Laskar Jihad group against trying to create more disturbances in the restive province.

"I don't want to see the security situation in Aceh being harmed. Should they (Laskar Jihad members) foment new violence in Aceh, the Indonesian Military will face them," he said.

Djali told the Java-based extremist group to disclose the motive behind its arrival in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

"What's the use of their entry to Aceh? Do they want to wage holy war? Who do they want to fight? We already have a security institution," he said.

The recently installed military chief said that security personnel would arrest group members if they sparked violence in Aceh.

The warning came a day after Laskar Jihad held a gathering inside Banda Aceh's Baiturrahman Grand Mosque on Monday, which was attended by about 200 people, mostly its own members.

Laskar Jihad armed forces commander Jafar Umar Thalib led a second gathering at the newly inaugurated Laskar Jihad headquarters in Banda Aceh on Tuesday.

The notorious group had planned for a mass rally at the mosque on Monday, a move met by strong opposition from the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and other Acehnese.

Objections also came from local religious leaders, who banned a rally organized by Laskar Jihad who have alleged ties to army generals.

As separatist rebels warned of using force to prevent the militants from staging the rally, Tengku Sofyan Hamzah, leader of the main mosque, said the event could lead to a religious war in Aceh.

However, despite the ban, Laskar Jihad went ahead with the peaceful gathering on Monday led by Jafar, which was held after late afternoon Ashar prayers. No attacks on the militants were reported.

Ahead of the prayers, group members installed its own microphone at the yard, but later moved it inside the mosque.

In a sermon lasting more than an hour, Jafar called on Acehnese to unite with Muslims and reject western intervention in resolving the conflict.

He accused westerners of destroying Islam and Muslims.

"If conflict takes place among Muslims, the solution should be referred to the teachings of Alquran and Prophet Muhammad, not by asking for help from non-Muslims."

He said that only Muslim countries should be involved in mediating in peace talks between Acehnese and the government. "If OIC (the Organization of Islamic Conference) members are asked for help, God willing they will want to do so."

Jafar denied rumors he would be arrested by police in Banda Aceh ahead of Monday's gathering. "A police intelligence officer did come to me to know about me and to say hello to me," he said.

He also denied that Laskar Jihad's entry to Aceh would spark more violence, saying his visit was only part of the organization's routine activities.

"We have just opened the provincial branch of Laskar Jihad in Banda Aceh. Our activities here focus on social affairs and propagation as we do in other provinces," he said,

Western intelligence sources say hardline Muslim generals covertly set up Laskar Jihad two years ago as a tool to destabilize former president Abdurrahman Wahid, a reformist Muslim cleric.

GAM leaders said they refused the presence of Laskar Jihad in Aceh because it could create religious, racial and ethnic problems.

They accused the Indonesian Military of backing their entry in the war-torn province.

Laskar Jihad has waged a holy war against Christians in the country's eastern Maluku islands and in the Poso regency in Central Sulawesi.