Minister suggests outlawing sorcery
Minister suggests outlawing sorcery
SEMARANG (JP): Minister of Justice Muladi said on Thursday
that sorcery, known locally as santet, should be made an offense
under the Criminal Code because of its potential to stir up
unrest in superstitious communities.
The minister said that black magic and witchcraft needed to be
brought under the criminal law urgently.
"The impact of the issue is very disturbing and it often
claims innocent victims," Muladi said after attending a
graduation ceremony at Diponegoro University here.
Muladi said that anyone openly claiming to have the ability to
kill or hurt other people with black magic must be punished.
"That would be one way to resolve the witchcraft issue," said
Muladi.
Munir, the coordinator of the respected Commission for Missing
Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said last week that at
least 147 people had been killed in regencies in East Java,
including 110 in Banyuwangi alone. Some of the earlier victims in
the murder spree were people accused of practicing sorcery,
however many victims were later found to be Moslem preachers and
Koranic teachers.
Some of the murders were committed by angry neighbors, but
most were perpetrated by groups of unidentified men wearing
ninja-like dark clothing and masks.
Leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) said many of the victims
belonged to the organization's Banyuwangi, Situbondo, Pasuruan,
Jember, Lumajang and Madura chapters.
National Police Spokesman Brig. Gen. Togar Sianipar, however,
insisted that only one preacher was among the 95 deaths so far
recorded by police.
"The police must give a thorough explanation to public. They
must state whether the murders were plotted, and if so who
masterminded them," Muladi said.
On Wednesday night an angry mob destroyed a police station in
Semampir, Surabaya, because they believed an alleged shaman
called Solikhan had taken refuge there.
"People become suspicious of just about anything nowadays,"
North Surabaya Police chief Lt. Col. Sunaryono said on Thursday.
Separately, the chairman of the East Java chapter of the
Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), K.H. Misbah, urged the Armed
Forces (ABRI) to take stern and transparent measures to bring the
massacre to an end.
"If the security forces do not take any action and even allow
the terror to continue then we will face even more severe
danger," Misbah said after meeting with East Java Governor Imam
Utomo.
Black magic is still common in Indonesian society. Javanese
people call it santet or teluh, the Balinese call it leyak, and
Batak people call it begu ganjang.
Mysticism surrounding the practice of black magic has it that
sorcerers are obliged perform to vile acts such as rape a certain
number of virgins to obtain their evil power.
In rural areas villagers suffering from common diseases are
often believed to be the victims of black magic.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Committee for World Moslem
Solidarity (KISDI) said on Thursday that it deplored the
conflicting statements made by government officials and
politicians on the problem. The organization said the statements
had worsened the situation.
The organization's chairman, H.A. Sumargono, said local
officials and police in East Java appeared to be reluctant to
take steps to calm the situation.
Sumargono said KISDI sent a six-member fact finding team to
East Java last week.
They found that only 24 of the 114 victims they counted in
Banyuwangi were shamans.
"The rest were teachers or ulemas," he said.
Meanwhile, Antara reported on Thursday that the chairman of
MUI's West Java chapter, Totoh Abdul Fattah, had urged people to
step up their guard to prevent a similar situation developing in
the province.
"We must not tolerate any murder on the pretext of santet and
we must not allow it to happen in West Java," Abdul said.
He said the public had no right to punish suspected sorcerers
on their own and should instead take them to the police.
(har/nur/prb)