Over 400 alleged extremists checked in last three years

Over 400 alleged extremists checked in last three years

JAKARTA (JP): More than 400 people have been interrogated by
the City Military Command in the last three years for alleged
involvement in a Moslem extremist group.

Spokesman Lt. Col. Didi Supandi said yesterday that the people
were suspected of being affiliated to movements which struggled
for the establishment of an Islamic state in Indonesia.

"All of them were released after interrogation. There has been
no detentions," Didi told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

He said the military will keep a close watch on the suspected
Moslem militants, all residents of Jakarta, Tangerang and Bekasi.

The Armed Forces (ABRI) faction of the House of
Representatives reported on Tuesday that, up to December last
year, the City Military Command had arrested 428 people suspected
of being Moslem militants.

One of them, identified as Moch. Rais Abasex, will be brought
to court, said legislator Hari Sabarno of the faction.

The report said that a former political prisoner of a "right
extremist group" had been active again in campaigning for the
establishment of an Islamic state in Indonesia through "harsh
sermons" and the publication of pamphlets.

Some of the suspects have allegedly distributed a book
praising the late Kartosuwiryo, the leader of the outlawed Darul
Islam sect, the report added.

Kartosuwiryo launched a separatist movement and proclaimed the
existence of an Indonesian Islamic Republic in West Java before
his group was banned in 1949.

Although the majority of Indonesia's more than 195 million
residents are Moslems, the country is not an Islamic state.

The Indonesian constitution guarantees religious freedom, but
the government has cracked down on alleged extremist religious
movements said to be involved in political activities.(29)