Police capture suspect in PKB murder

Police capture suspect in PKB murder

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

East Java Police said on Friday they had captured a suspect
charged with hacking to death a Muslim cleric who was a
politician from the National Awakening Party (PKB) in Lumajang
regency in November.

"It's true that Lora Anshori has been arrested in
(neighboring) Jember regency. Currently, he is being interrogated
by the police in Lumajang," East Java Police chief Firman Gani
told The Jakarta Post in Surabaya.

He said Anshori had confessed to slaying Asmuni Ishak, who
chaired Lumajang's PKB board of patrons, together with five
accomplices.

The five suspects were identified as Hudin, Sipur, Mahbur,
Dultasi and Durasman, who remain at large.

Gani said the police have set up a new team to search for the
missing suspects. "We have already obtained complete data on the
five."

The East Java Police chief said Anshori was arrested on
Thursday night at the home of local resident named Atmadin from
the hamlet of Karang Tengah in Jembersari village, Sumberbaru
subdistrict.

Atmadin was being questioned by the Lumajang Police on charges
of hiding Anshori in Jember.

Police had earlier questioned four people as witnesses in the
incident and later released them.

At least six men armed with machetes broke into Asmuni's house
in Jatiroto subdistrict, Lumajang, and hacked him to death on
Nov. 27. His wife, Siti Mutmainah, survived but was seriously
wounded in the attack.

PKB politicians, including former president Abdurrahman "Gus
Dur" Wahid, have said they believe Asmuni's murder was
politically motivated as it took place ahead of the 2004
elections.

However, police have said an investigation showed that the
slaying was an ordinary crime, despite the fact that the killers
did not make off with luxury goods from Asmuni's house.

Gani said the allegations of a political motive behind the
murder had not come to light. "We are continuing the
investigation," he added.

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

The killings remain a mystery. Little effort was made to solve
the seemingly organized murders.

East Java is the stronghold of the PKB that is affiliated to
the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),
which Gus Dur once led.

PKB chairman of East Java chapter Choirul Anam hailed on
Friday the arrest of Anshori and expressed hope that it would
soon uncover the motive behind the slaying of Asmuni.

"Thank God. It shows that the police have worked hard to solve
the case," he said in Surabaya.

Yet he asked the police not to ignore evidence uncovered by an
investigative team set up by the PKB that the murder was
politically motivated.

"Because the victim was a political figure and there were no
goods stolen, it means (the crime) was politically motivated,"
Anam added.

He said PKB members and other people wanted to see a
transparent and fair investigation into the incident. "For that
purpose, it's better if the probe into the Asmuni case be carried
out at the East Java Police headquarters."

Similarly, PKB faction chairman in the province's legislative
council Fathurrosid said his party wanted the police to complete
the investigation before the 2004 elections.

Following the death of Asmuni, deputy PKB chairman Mahfud M.D.
claimed earlier this month that certain persons had been hired to
try to kill party executives and NU ulemas on East Java's Madura
island.

Asmuni's slaying and the reported death threats have prompted
the NU's youth wing, Ansor, to deploy members of its paramilitary
group Banser to guard the houses of NU clerics across East Java.

But they were warned against reacting violently to the
threats.