Five members of banned group arrested

Five members of banned group arrested

JAKARTA (JP): Bekasi Police have arrested five men who claim
to be members of the banned Indonesian Islamic State (NII)
movement in Pondok Gede.

City police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said yesterday that
the men were detained for their alleged involvement in the
prohibited organization.

"The organization was banned because it aims to undermine the
country and the government by planning to build an Islamic
state," he said.

Police identified the five suspects as Ahmad Sani, Arif
Rahman, Abdullah, M. Uzen Aftarus and Achmad Chaffa. Their ages
were not known.

"Their involvements was proved by some evidence, including a
kind of biography of Kartosuwirjo (the founder of NII) and some
books and documents which contained the movement's doctrines."

Hamami said the evidence was seized during a raid early
yesterday at a house rented by the suspects.

Bekasi Police precinct chief Lt. Col. Adjie Rustam said that
officers had also confiscated Rp 10.6 million (US$3,100) from the
premises.

He said it was believed that the money had been collected from
movement members and sympathizers.

"The money was kept and managed by one of the suspects, Sani,
who was the alleged caretaker of the group."

Adjie said the men often held discussions and gave tutorials
on Islamic teachings to their neighbors.

He said the raid yesterday was based on reports from locals,
who were suspicious of unusual activities at the house.

Adjie said police were still investigating whether the five
men had any special connection with a group of 21 men arrested in
September.

"We're still working on it," he said.

During the September raid at a house in Pondok Gede, police
confiscated several religious books and movement leaflets.

Some of the leaflets contained text from the 1949 proclamation
of the movement with the initials SMK printed on them. SMK is
probably an abbreviation for Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwirjo,
the founder's complete name.

According to the government-sponsored book 30 Tahun Indonesia
Merdeka (30 years of Indonesian Independence), Kartosuwirjo
proclaimed the birth of NII in Tasikmalaya, West Java, in 1949.

The book says that he led his group of extremists, mostly from
West Java, to some provinces across the country in an attempt to
persuade Indonesian Army members to destroy the republic and set
up an Islamic state. (cst)