Preacher named suspect in bloody mid-May riots

JAKARTA (JP): Police yesterday officially named Chinese- Indonesian Anton Medan, an ex-con turned Moslem preacher, as a suspect for his alleged role in leading mobs during the mid-May riots.

City police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman said: "He is scheduled to be questioned at the city police headquarters here on Monday at 9 a.m. to clarify the truth about several accusations pointed against him during the May riots," Noegroho told reporters.

According to Noegroho, at least 10 witnesses have admitted to having seen Anton leading groups in the riots which involved widespread looting and arson.

"But you have to remember this, he is not yet a guilty man. This questioning is only part of the investigation to prove his involvement. He is innocent until proven guilty," Noegroho reiterated.

Anton, a former convict who turned Moslem preacher has rejected two summons from the military police on the grounds that he is not a member of the military.

"I am ready to be questioned by the police. I want this thing to be cleared up," Anton told a television station yesterday.

Noegroho also said yesterday that police would in the next few days conditionally release Andi Arief, chairman of Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy, or SMID, a wing of the outlawed Democratic People's Party (PRD). Andi who was detained for his alleged role in the Tanah Tinggi bomb explosion in Tanah Tinggi last year.

"He will be released soon based on his parents' and lawyer's guarantee. But he will still be a suspect in the Tanah Tinggi case," Noegroho said. (edt)