Situbondo riots may have been planned: Syarwan

JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid said yesterday there were indications that last week's attacks on East Javan churches were "planned".

After questioning the 40 people arrested in connection with the riots, authorities said they had found indications that the riot had been planned, Syarwan told reporters after addressing a leadership meeting of Golkar.

"The rioters said they held preparatory meetings for that purpose," he said. "However, we have not yet formed any conclusions."

Syarwan said the case is being handled by the East Java office of the Agency for the Coordination of Support for the Development of National Stability. "Let's just wait until the agency announces its findings," he said.

Syarwan declined to name the suspected perpetrators of the violence that left at least five people dead and damaged 25 churches, Catholic schools and other public facilities.

The riots in Situbondo were sparked by Situbondo Moslems' anger over the jail term requested by the prosecution for a Moslem sect member standing trial for blasphemy against Islam.

The mob, considering the requested punishment too lenient, burned down the court building and set fire to a nearby church after someone shouted that the defendant, Saleh, was hidden inside.

The rampage spread to surrounding areas, and raged for five hours before troops were able to contain it.

On Sunday, Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), a Moslem organization that has strong membership in Situbondo and the surrounding areas, begged for forgiveness because he believed many of the perpetrators were NU members.

NU Secretary-General Ahmad Bagdja later said, however, that the organization was not behind the riots. He said the attacks were criminal acts, but were not fueled by religious hatred.

Yesterday, Abdurrahman said he did not think that the riots were engineered but exploded out of people's rage. He also named a number of factors that could have triggered the unrest, including poverty.

Also yesterday, several high-ranking officials reiterated their regrets over the incident and called for restraint from the public.

"We'll uphold justice. We'll enforce the laws," Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung said after addressing the Golkar meeting.

Amien Rais, the chairman of the 28-million-member Muhammadiyah Moslem organization, expressed his conviction yesterday that the riot was instigated by "certain parties".

Amien, who is also a political observer, said that rumors often develop in the months preceding general elections and might wreak havoc. "Issues that can easily create unrest are those which concern religion, ethnicity and social groups," he said in Semarang.

"Everybody, especially Moslems, should not be easily provoked by those rumors," he said.

Legislators Suparman Achmad and Hari Sabarno of the ABRI faction at the House of Representatives yesterday also expressed their regret over the incident. Hari said that local authorities failed to predict that the unrest would spread. (har/imn/swe)