Ahmadiyah demands safety guarantee

Ahmadiyah demands safety guarantee

BANDUNG: The West Java office of the Indonesian Ahmadiyah
Congregation demanded on Friday that the police ensure the safety
of its followers following Monday's attacks on its mosques and
properties in Cianjur.

The congregation's lawyer Arif Yogiawan said hundreds of
Ahmadiyah followers living in Cianjur, 100 kilometers south of
Bandung, remained vulnerable to raids by hard-liners although 12
people had been arrested by the police in connection with
Monday's violence. It was the second attack on Ahmadiyah since a
mob vandalized its main office in Bogor in July.

Arif of the Bandung Legal Aid Institute said Ahmadiyah
followers in the Cianjur villages of Cibeber and Campaka had come
under threat and intimidation despite the police probe into the
incident.

The lawyer estimated his client's material losses at no less
than Rp 300 million (nearly US$30,000) from Monday's attack on
four mosques, 89 houses and several shops belonging to the
congregation. -- JP