NU members warned not to take law into their own hands

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)