NU members warned not to take law into their own hands

JAKARTA (JP): Leaders of the Moslem organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) warned their members on Monday not to take the law into their own hands in their attempt to stop the mysterious killings which have claimed more than 150 lives in East Java in the past two months.

NU provincial leader Hasyim Muzadi was quoted by Antara as saying: "NU strictly prohibits the action of taking the law into our own hands because this is against the religious and state laws... so it must be stopped."

Speaking in Surabaya, the capital of East Java, Hasyim was referring to the locals' campaign to arm themselves against the killers. In some cases, the locals have then mobbed to death people they suspected of being the "ninja-killers" blamed for the murder spree.

Originally thought to be targeting only people accused of dabbling in sorcery, later victims turned out to be Moslem preachers and NU followers.

As reported earlier, a thousands-strong NU task force has been deployed to guard Moslem preachers in Surabaya and the neighboring areas.

Hasyim said the vigilance of the task force members had begun to be excessive.

"Data obtained by NU indicates that the people, including NU members, are being provoked to commit anarchic actions and if this (provocation) proves to be successful this will only benefit the rumormongers," Hasyim said, adding that the goal of the rumormongers was to influence opinion so the public thought it was the NU members themselves who had been terrorizing the area.

Separately, Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto told a gathering of students here on Monday night that out of "157 killers" arrested, 69 were also NU members.

"They will be tried this month," Wiranto said, without mentioning any date. He insisted that the number of people killed were 95.

"It's not true that ABRI was involved in the killings," he said.

Hasyim, therefore, appealed to NU members to immediately hand over anybody they suspected to be killers to the authorities.

In the East Java town of Malang on Sunday, locals attacked five people they suspected of being the killers in separate incidents. The locals, who were on night patrol, started to attack the five after they failed to produce identification cards.

One of the five was reportedly burned to death in Buluwalang district while another was beheaded on Sunday evening in Sumberwanjing Wetan.

Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto said on Sunday that conflict among the country's political elite was behind the murders.

Wiranto, speaking at a meeting between authorities in East Java and local civic and religious leaders in Banyuwangi, said the conflict had caused much suffering.

Abdurrahman Wahid, who heads the 30-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama, said on Saturday his group already knew the "mastermind" behind the killing spree, including some cabinet ministers, but mentioned no names.

Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid suggested on Monday that Abdurrahman should support his allegations with evidence.

"Otherwise, his allegation will remain unproven and will have a negative impact on the government's credibility," Syarwan told reporters after a plenary meeting at the House of Representatives.

He said such allegations would also disrupt the country's economy, which was starting to show signs of improvement. (byg/nur/imn/43)