General accused of inciting hatred

General accused of inciting hatred

JAKARTA (JP): A group formed from seven Muslim organizations
on Tuesday demanded the Jakarta Police summon Maj. Gen. (ret)
Theo Syafei for allegedly spreading groundless information and
hatred against Islam.

A leader of the Islamic Defender Association, Margiono, said
the group would not file suit against the former chief of the
Udayana military command, but leave it to police to take action.

The group claims Theo disparaged Muslims during a speech
before Christian youths at a church in Kupang, East Nusa
Tenggara, last month.

It alleges Theo said Muslims were ambitiously pursuing the
establishment of an Islamic state by 2003 and would do anything
to achieve their goal.

"We merely want to remind police that if they fail to do
anything about what has been spread among the public, it will be
too late as Muslims will get angry."

Margiono said he wished to avoid any religious conflicts
between Christians and Muslims.

"It's better to prevent possible conflicts caused by the
misunderstanding now."

Margiono said Theo's statements were shrewd and professional,
showing he was a true politician.

Cassettes and transcripts of the speech are reportedly in
public circulation. New tabloid Abadi published the purported
transcript.

Margiono said police could summon Theo without the behest of
any group.

After meeting group members, city police chief Maj. Gen.
Noegroho Djajoesman told reporters the police would respond to
the appeal.

He would not give a specific schedule on when police would
summon Theo, one of the most respected figures in the Armed
Forces.

Noegroho said police had already conducted preliminary
investigations on the distributed cassettes and transcripts.

"We have already realized that the distribution of the
cassettes will raise tension among believers."

Theo could face charges of violating Article 156 of the
Criminal Code on the spreading of hatred, which carries a maximum
penalty of a five-year imprisonment.

Theo's housekeeper said on Tuesday he had been out of town for
two days.

Theo, veteran of the Indonesian military campaign in East
Timor which began in 1976, no longer holds public office.

He fell out of favor with the military and the government of
then president Soeharto in 1997 after departing from the official
line on various political issues during his term as an Armed
Forces legislator. (emf)