Eight FPI members named vandalism suspects
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Central Jakarta Police named on Sunday eight out of the 13 arrested members of the radical Islam Defenders Front (FPI) as suspects following recent attacks by the organization's activists on a number of nightspots and billiard centers in Jakarta.
"Based on the results of the police investigation, these eight suspects have violated the Criminal Code's chapter 170 article 1 on public order," Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Edmon Ilyas told reporters.
Edmon identified the eight FPI members as Abdul Kohar, Alawy Usman, M. Djafar Sidik, M. Wahyono, R. Suhendra, Wahyu Atin, Much Machusi Kaluko and Taher Pele. They had been charged as suspects for taking the law into their own hands and disturbing public order.
According to the Criminal Code, those who conspire or combine to use overt violence against persons or property can be sentenced to a maximum of five years and six months in prison.
Edmon also revealed that a suspect, Taher Pele, had been charged under Emergency Law No. 12/1951 for being in possession of illegal firearms and ammunition.
The police are still hunting for another suspect, Chaidir, the owner of a house in Tebet, South Jakarta, where the police found a number of home-made rifles.
About 650 members of the Islam Defenders Front early on Friday morning launched a violent raid on nightspots and pool halls in several parts of Jakarta.
They smashed glasses and other property belonging to Eksotis discotheque in Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta, and two billard centers in Mangga Besar, West Jakarta, with wooden sticks.
They also intended to attack the Hailai entertainment center in Ancol, North Jakarta, but officers from the building's management managed to calm them down.
The FPI has been become notorious for its violent raids on nightspots and entertainment centers. Friday's raids were the fourth in a string of raids on nightspots by the group here this year.
The police have been strongly criticized by the public as they have done nothing either to stop or prevent the group from recurrently launching its violent attacks.
Brushing aside allegations that the police did nothing to deal with the FPI violence, Edmon revealed that the police have also completed case files implicating FPI commander Al Habib Muhammad Rizieq in vandalism committed against seven bars on Jl. Jaksa in Central Jakarta at the end of June.
"The case has been submitted to the Jakarta Prosecutors' Office for the next stage in the legal process," Edmon told reporters.
Meanwhile, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar called on people not to take the law into their own hands by engaging in vandalism and violence.
"Anyone who insists on enforcing the law without being authorized to do so must face the wrath of the law itself," Da'i said.