Yuwono still missing as no one claims responsibility

The Jakarta Post, Ngawi

The kidnapping of a local political party leader remained a mystery on Monday after both the Islamic militant group Laskar Jihad Ahlussunnah wal Jamaah (Holy Warriors) and local police denied knowing the whereabouts of the Ngawi, East Java-based man.

Yuwono Susatyo, who chairs the Ngawi sub-branch of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), was stabbed and then abducted from his home by a group of unidentified men on Saturday as reported by his family.

Ngawi Police chief, Adj. Sr. Com. Yovi said that there were witnesses who claimed that Laskar Jihad members were behind the abduction.

"We are still working and collecting all the evidence. Further investigations will be carried out by the East Java (provincial) Police," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Yovi also denied a claim by Laskar Jihad lawyer Muhammad Mahendra on Sunday that the group had handed over the abducted activist to the police.

Chairman of PDI Perjuangan's Ngawi branch, Budi Sulistyo also denied Mahendra's statement, claiming it was a joke.

"We did not accuse Laskar Jihad of doing it but eyewitnesses said that the culprits who stabbed and kidnapped Yuwono wore their (Laskar Jihad) uniforms," he said.

The tension in the small town of Ngawi, 120 kilometers east of Yogyakarta, heightened over the weekend between local Muslim groups and the supporters of PDI Perjuangan.

On Friday, a group of people ransacked and burned the home of local Muslim leader Muhyi Effendi, and the next day, Yuwono was kidnapped.

The incidents took place after some Muslim groups, calling themselves the Ngawi Islamic Community Forum (FUIN) raided some entertainment spots and gambling dens in the small town of Ngawi.

Yuwono's family denied allegations that he operated a gambling business, saying he was a building material supplier.

"We are from a Muslim background. I am planning to take the Haj pilgrimage with him next year," said Yuwono's younger brother Yuwono Kartiko.

Police officers are being deployed in the nearby Mantingan area which borders Central and East Java to prevent an influx of Laskar Jihad members, from other towns to Ngawi.

Police have arrested some 30 members of Laskar Jihad from Surakarta and Yogyakarta who apparently slipped into Ngawi on Saturday.

Separately, in Surakarta, Central Java, chairman of the Ahlussunnah wal Jamaah Communication Forum (FKASWJ) a group closely connected with Laskar Jihad, Ayip Syafruddin, said it had handed over six people to the Ngawi Police but claimed no knoweldge of Yuwono's whereabouts.

"We did not kidnap Yuwono. Why do we have to be held responsible?" he asked.

"Police have surrounded our office since Friday evening. It would be strange if police did not notice any of our members sneaking out during the blockade."

Ayip also said the group had met Megawati to clarify that Laskar Jihad did not have any problems with PDI Perjuangan.

"We are trying to eradicate vice, not PDI Perjuangan. But unfortunately there are party members who are involved in such vice," he said.

Meanwhile in Yogyakarta, Laskar Jihad sharply criticized East Java police over the arrest of 103 members of the group in Ngawi on Sunday. The group called on the police to be fair in handling the case.

Eri Ziyad, public relations coordinator from the FKAWJ said here on Monday that East Java police had committed human rights abuses during the capture of their members on Saturday and Sunday.

"Some members were captured while they were doing their night prayers in the mosque. The police did not even read them their rights," he said.

"The police captured more than a hundred Laskar Jihad members who had been fighting to enforce the law, but they released six gamblers whom we handed over to them previously. That deeply concerns us," he added.

"We strongly urge the police to be on our side, not on the side of the gamblers," he said.