Eight named suspects in police killings
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Police said on Friday they had named eight followers of a little- known religious sect in Central Sulawesi as suspects for the killings of three police officers.
The suspects were among at least 72 followers of sect leader Mahdi who were arrested after a deadly clash on Tuesday with police near the provincial capital of Palu, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said.
He alleged that the eight suspects -- Syahido, 30, Adjamuddin, 40, Bambang, 40, Nangga, 24, Lai, 35, Olimin, 21, Kahar, 21 and Ryaya, 42 -- were responsible for the deaths of the three police officers during the clash, including Adj. Comr. Imam Dwi Haryanto.
"The first four people are believed to have killed Imam using machetes, while the last four helped drag and hide Imam's body," Aryanto told a press conference in Jakarta.
He also said that a total of 117 Mahdi followers, comprising 32 men, 40 women and 45 children, had surrendered to local police.
Police had also confiscated 18 machetes and a spear believed to have been used in Tuesday's incident.
The conflict broke out after 16 officers went to the mountainous Gawalise area near Palu to detain Mahdi for allegedly spreading heretical Islamic beliefs.
However, the attempt to arrest the 27-year old leader met strong resistance from his followers, leading to the deaths of three officers and two sect members.
A day later, police launched a massive raid against the sect to locate the attackers and Mahdi as they were reportedly holding several officers hostage in their hideouts.
The search efforts, employing over 300 heavily armed police and a helicopter, eventually bore fruit, with the three officers being found alive on Thursday in a forest area near Salena hamlet where the sect was centered.
"The evacuation process has been completed but police are intensifying their efforts to find Mahdi," Aryanto said.
He denied that police had violated the basic rights of citizens to freely practice their religion by attempting to arrest the sect leader.
Police were merely trying to address public grievances that the Mahdi-led sect had caused anxiety in his neighborhood, Aryanto argued.
Human rights activists have lashed out at police for their "repressive action" against the sect members, saying that it went against the basic right of freedom of religion.
"We were just trying to negotiate with the sect leader, but this failed because they (sect members) suddenly attacked us," Aryanto said.
He said that currently police were trying to identify and locate other Mahdi followers, which according to a document they had found numbered at least 372. --Related story on Page 3