Police detain two of four suspects over cleric's slaying

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post , Surabaya

Police here said on Monday they had detained two people and were hunting two others suspected of slaying a Muslim cleric from the National Awakening Party (PKB), following increasing pressure to bring the alleged killers to justice.

Police had detained a total of four people but released two due to insufficient evidence to charge them with involvement in the recent killing of PKB leader Asmuni Ishak in Lumajang regency, East Java.

The remaining suspects are being questioned at Lumajang Police headquarters, East Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Sad Harunantyo said.

"We are also searching for two other persons linked to the murder," he said, but he refused to identify them and the two detainees.

"The two suspects disappeared after the killing of Kyai (cleric) Asmuni," he told a news conference accompanied by East Java Police criminal investigation chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sutarman.

Sad said police had questioned at least 27 witnesses in connection to the case.

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

PKB executives believe the incident was politically motivated to terrorize party members in East Java, its main stronghold, ahead of the 2004 general elections.

The claim was supported by reports that more PKB clerics in several regencies in East Java, including Gresik and Jember, had received death threats from mysterious callers.

However, police have said Asmuni's death was not politically motivated, although they were still investigating.

"We have so far found evidence that the motive for the killing was robbery," Sad said, echoing statements of other police officers.

He said the two suspects currently on the run were connected to evidence police found during investigations.

At the house of one of the two, police discovered spots of blood on his trousers, Sad said, adding the blood was believed to be Asmuni's.

Sad said police had also found blood stains at 12 places surrounding the scene where Asmuni was slain, and discovered an artificial tooth and a sandal covered with blood.

"We will examine the blood at a police laboratory through a DNA test," he added.

On Sunday, deputy PKB chairman Mahfud M.D. claimed that certain persons had been hired to try 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 last Friday, accompanied by PKB chairman Alwi Shihab.

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

Mahfud's statement was denied by East Java Police.

"We have directly sent a team to Madura and found there are no hired killers," Sad said, quoting Madura Police chief Sr. Comr. Agus Widarto's statement.

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

However, they were warned against reacting violently to the threats.

PKB officials have said the latest threats were reminiscent of the conditions leading up to of the 1999 elections.

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 effort was made to solve the seemingly organized murders.

Attacks on Muslim preachers in East Java, where the PKB won the 1999 elections, could potentially trigger unrest.