Surakarta heats up with protest against raids

Blontank Poer The Jakarta Post/Surakarta

Tension heightened in the Central Java town of Surakarta as hundreds of supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Surakarta Islam Followers Coalition ready to stage protests against each other on Sunday.

As around 200 PDI-P supporters in Surakarta assembled to protest a recent raid on a Pring Kuning restaurant in the Grogol area in Sukoharjo by members of the coalition, hundreds of coalition members also gathered at four different places in the city to counter the protest.

But PDI-P supporters canceled their planned protest after Surakarta Police Chief Sr. Comr. Abdul Madjid spoke to them. PDI- P in Surakarta have accused Islamists of conducting raids using the name of Islam in the city's night spots.

"If the police cannot act strictly against those doing these raids, then we will stop their actions our own way," said Hariadi Saptono, one of the party's executives in Surakarta.

He said that according to bylaw No. 4/2002 on restaurant and night spot businesses, night clubs and bars had to close during the first week of the fasting month of Ramadhan, and a week before the Idul Fitri celebration.

"Everyone should follow the rules, even the police," Hariadi said.

In his speech to PDI-P supporters, Abdul Madjid said the police had taken firm action by dismissing Adj. Comr. Zaenal Arifin as Grogol police chief for his failure to secure his area.

The police, he said, had also apprehended Cholid Syaifullah, an allege raid coordinator for provoking and incurring damage. If found guilty, he might face up to six years in jail.

"We acted firmly in this case. I even dismissed the Grogol police chief for his slip-up," he said.

Meanwhile, a coalition's coordinators, Awod, said on Sunday that they were not afraid of threats coming from PDI-P.

"We'll continue the raids against community diseases, such as prostitution and alcohol. We're not against night spots, but we'll clean Surakarta of indecency," Awod said.

On the contrary, he added, the coalition felt harassed by PDI- P's supporters move in distributing fliers to residents on Saturday night, accusing them of being terrorists.

"We gather here to confront them because the terrorist tag hurts all Muslims and we won't accept such an accusation," Awod said.

He also charged PDI-P supporters with violating a deal that was made at the Surakarta police headquarters early Sunday morning, where they agreed not to stage street protests.

"But because PDI-P supporters gathered to stage the protest, we did the same thing to confront them whatever the circumstances," he said, adding that the coalition would not conduct raids or destroy liquors if the police acted strictly against sellers, especially during Ramadhan.