Al-Zaytun critics file complaint against intelligence chief

Al-Zaytun critics file complaint against intelligence chief

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Authors of published material critical of the Al-Zaytun Islamic
boarding school in West Java filed a complaint with the police on
Friday against National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief A.M.
Hendropriyono for defamation and alleged intimidation towards
them.

"We demand that Hendropriyono withdraw his statements and
publicly apologize within 3 days, or face legal charges," said Al
Chaidar, one of the authors.

During a visit to Al-Zaytun in May, Hendropriyono delivered a
speech in which he alleged that books criticizing the boarding
school were "satanic books written by envious people" and that he
would use "all the power and authority" that he had to "crack
down on those people".

A video recording of the speech was shown by the authors to
reporters and police as evidence, along with editions of Medium
and Al-Zaytun magazines containing similar remarks by
Hendropriyono.

However, Hendropriyono's statements in the video and the
magazines did not refer to any specific books or authors.

This was admitted by Al Chaidar, though he was also quick to
add that there were only five books ever written by just three
authors. In addition to the book he wrote, there were only four
others written -- by his colleagues, Umar Abduh and M. Amin
Djamaluddin.

Al Chaidar also said that he received several threats and has
been intimidated ever since his book was published in 2000. The
threats included gun shots fired at his house and phone calls
harrasing him not to criticize Al-Zaytun again.

"This is truly an act of terror and an assault on the
democratic principle of freedom of expression, especially if it
is done by government officials," Al Chaidar said, urging police
to investigate the case seriously.

The Al-Zaytun Islamic boarding school in Indramayu, West Java
was inaugurated in 1996 by then Minister of Research and
Technology B.J. Habibie, and is currently headed by Panji
Gumilang.

It has been cautiously praised by some as a modern Islamic
boarding school worthy of becoming an example for other boarding
schools in Indonesia.

On his May visit to Al-Zaytun, Hendropriyono even called it a
"center of excellence" for Islam in Indonesia. Hendropriyono
himself was there in place of President Megawati Soekarnoputri,
to inaugurate a building at Al-Zaytun dedicated to Megawati's
father and Indonesia's founding father, Soekarno.

The boarding school, however, has also seen its share of
controversy, as others have alleged that it is discreetly
becoming a deviationist sect and perhaps the ninth regional
military command (KW9) of the outlawed militant Islamic movement
of Darul Islam, which reportedly has extorted money from its new
recruits in the name of "alms".

The Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) conducted an
investigation of Al-Zaytun in 2002, and concluded that there were
indeed indications of deviationist teachings of Islam at Al-
Zaytun.

MUI's findings, however, have never been followed up on by the
government or the police.