Eight FPI members named vandalism suspects
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.