Surakarta heats up with protest against raids

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.