Police meet Muslim leaders over arrests of activists
Police meet Muslim leaders over arrests of activists
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surabaya/Gresik
Police officers met with Muslim leaders on Friday to discuss the
arrests of dozens of activists for their alleged involvement in a
string of terrorist attacks in the country.
National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar met with Indonesian
Ulemas Council (MUI) leaders on Friday morning, while National
Police detectives chief Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng and police
spokesman Insp. Gen. Basyir A. Barmawi met with leaders of
several Muslim organizations on Friday afternoon.
On Wednesday, Da'i held a meeting with Hasyim Muzadi, chairman
of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama,
which has about 40 million members.
Briefing the press after meeting with the MUI leaders, Da'i
said police would continue arresting terrorist suspects as part
of its war on terrorism. He, however, stressed that any arrest
would follow the procedures in the Criminal Law Procedures Code
(KUHAP).
"To avoid misunderstanding, as soon as we arrest terror
suspects, we will inform their family members," he said after
meeting with MUI leaders Amidhan, Nazri Adlani and Din
Syamsuddin.
Police have arrested 18 people, including three on Friday, for
their alleged involvement in terrorist acts in the country.
During the meeting, the MUI leaders gave their support for the
fights against terrorism, but questioned the way the arrests were
carried out.
It was also agreed during the meeting that police would avoid
using repressive measures against arrested terrorist suspects.
"We agree that the arrest of any terrorist suspect will not be
linked to Islam or Muslim activists," MUI secretary Din
Syamsuddin said.
According to Din, Da'i acknowledged his oversight in the
arrests and pledged the KUHAP, which obliges police to inform
family members of arrests, would be followed in the future.
Leaders of several Muslim organizations, meanwhile, criticized
police officers for arresting several activists, and accused them
of torturing the detainees.
Mappaseng, however, said the police had arrested terrorist
suspects, not Muslim activists.
"Police officers enforce the law. We never see the background
or political affiliation of any terror suspect. Our concern is
'who does what,'" he said.
Mappaseng called on those criticizing the police not to
provoke the people, but to bring the matter to the courts.
Responding to this statement, a member of the Muslim Defender
Team, Abdul Khalik, said his team was preparing a lawsuit against
the arrests, which he said were not in line with existing
procedures.
Separately, NU chairman Hasyim said in Gresik, East Java, on
Thursday that he had met with Gen. Da'i on Wednesday, during
which the police chief admitted mistakes in the arrests.
"I met with police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar last night. Da'i
acknowledged that technically there was a mistake in the arrests
of the activists, namely the delay in informing family members,"
Hasyim said.
Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra questioned on Friday police's
arrests of Muslim activists, saying the arrests violated both
human rights and existing laws.
Azyumardi said before making the arrests, police should have
obtained permission from the head of the respective local court,
as stipulated in Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism.
"In the law, it is stipulated that any arrest based on
intelligence information must first be OK'd by the court. In the
arrests of the Muslim activists, however, police failed to do
this, so in this case they violated the law," said Azyumardi.
Meanwhile, about 50 members of the Indonesian Mujahidin
Council staged a rally outside the National Police Headquarters
on Friday to demand the release of the arrested activists.
The protesters unfurled banners which read: "Stop abductions",
"Muslim activists are not terrorists" and "Release Muslim
activists".