Yuwono still missing as no one claims responsibility

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.