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)