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.