PKB get reports of more death threats

PKB get reports of more death threats

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post , Surabaya

The House of Representatives plans to summon National Police
chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, as the National Awakening Party (PKB)
has received reports of more death threats made to Muslim clerics
in East Java.

Deputy chairman of PKB Mahfud M.D., speaking in Surabaya on
Sunday, said anonymous callers had threatened to kill party
executives and ulemas of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) on East Java's
Madura island.

He said he had been notified of the threats during his visit
to Madura on Friday, accompanied by PKB chairman Alwi Shihab.

Mahfud, a former defense minister, declined to name the
clerics who had received death threats.

Earlier, PKB clerics had reportedly received similar death
threats in the regencies of Gresik and Jember, following the
recent killing of party leader Asmuni Ishak in Lumajang regency.

Asmuni was stabbed to death after six masked men armed with
machetes broke into his house in Jatiroto subdistrict, on Nov.
27. His wife, Siti Mutmainah, survived but was seriously wounded
in the attack.

Asmuni's death followed the murder of Rafiq, a PKB activist,
in Jember, earlier that week.

Mahfud underlined that the recent death threats and the death
of Asmuni indicated that PKB and NU members in East Java -- the
party's main stronghold ahead of the 2004 elections -- were
clearly in danger.

"It's the task of the police to investigate the case
thoroughly," he said.

Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who chairs the
PKB board of patrons, Mahfud and other party executives believe
that both the threats and Asmuni's murder were politically
motivated, in a bid to weaken support for the party prior to the
2004 elections.

However, so far, the police have concluded that Asmuni's
murder was not politically motivated.

"If it was a non-political crime, as found by the police, we
will be happy because the consequences will not be so severe. But
such a conclusion must be supported by adequate evidence from
suspects," Mahfud said.

PKB legislator Effendi Choiri said his Commission I in the
House will summon Da'i Bachtiar and East Java Police chief Insp.
Gen. Heru Susanto for a hearing on Dec. 15, concerning Asmuni's
death and the threats made to the clerics.

"The police have not completed their reports on this case. So,
we (from Commission I for security and foreign affairs) will ask
them (the police) to settle (the case) thoroughly," Effendi
added.

He criticized the police for concluding that Asmuni's death
was not politically motivated.

He added that a NU cleric in Gresik (also Effendi's hometown),
Hasbullah Faqih, had received a death threat from two strangers
who had turned up at his house.

Separately, PKB secretary general Saifullah Yusuf said the NU-
affiliated youth wing Ansor, which he also chairs, has ordered
its paramilitary group Banser not to react violently to the
threats.

He was quoted by Antara as saying that Banser and Ansor
members had been banned from acting beyond their authority, such
as conducting raids. It's the police's job," he said.

East Java Police detective chief Sr. Comr. Sutarman had
earlier said Banser members were permitted to protect the ulemas
by acting as guards.

"It's no problem as long as they do not violate the law. If
they find a crime has been committed they should report it to the
police. Don't take action alone," he said.

Lumajang's PKB executive Abdurrohman said security had been
tightened at Islamic boarding schools and the residences of party
officials.

"Students and local people are more alert now," he said,
adding that the move was ordered by East Java's PKB.

PKB officials have said the latest threats were reminiscent of
the conditions leading up to of the 1999 elections, which
catapulted Gus Dur into the presidency.

Dozens of Muslim preachers linked to the PKB were beaten or
hacked to death in a number of different regencies across East
Java in 1999. It was claimed that the clerics were murdered as
they had practiced black magic.

The killings remain a mystery. Little attempt appears to have
been made to uncover the truth behind the seemingly organized
murders.

Attacks on Muslim preachers in East Java, where the PKB won
the 1999 elections, could potentially trigger unrest. The PKB won
the most votes in the province, ahead of President Megawati
Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.