Attacks on Moderate Moslems and Anti-Narcotic Agency

Yesterday afternoon a bomb exploded at the office of the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI) in Utan Kayu, Central Jakarta.

The bomb was disguised as a book titled " Mereka Harus Dibunuh Karena Dosa-Dosa Mereka Terhadap Islam dan Kaum Muslim " meaning " Those Who Should Be Killed Because of Their Sins To Islam and Muslims ", in a package sent by Drs Sulaiman Azhar LC for the former chairman of the Liberal Islamic Network (JIL), currently a top official of President SBY's Democrat Party i.e Ulil Abshar Abdalla.

According to The Jakarta Post, the book was received by employee of ISAI at around 10 a.m. who contacted the police later in the afternoon after noticing cables sticking out of the book.

Kompas reported that the police were trying to secure the book when the explosion occurred. As a result, the East Jakarta chief detective Comr. Dodi Rahmawan suffered serious injuries, one of his hand was blown off, another Police officer and employee of ISAI were injured.

Later in evening a similar package was sent to Comr. Gen. Gories Mere, former key officer of the National Police’s anti-terrorists unit, Densus 88, at his office at the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) in Cawang, East Jakarta.

According to The Jakarta Globe, the bomb was not opened and was safely disposed of. The head of the Jakarta Police’s bomb squad, Sr. Comr. Wahyu Widodo was quoted as saying that the package was similar to the one sent to Ulil, which contained a thick book in which the bomb was hidden.

I wonder whether the above incidents indicate that the terrorist who used to claim that they were fighting for religion have now join forces with drug dealers.  I hope that the Police Densus 88 will hunt them and bring them to justice very soon.

Inter-Religious Disharmony

When Indonesia was ruled by authoritarian regimes, inter-religious relationship in the country was harmonious. This is obvious because those regimes would do anything to make people obey the Constitution which ruled that citizens are free to choose any religions or faith.

Things changed drastically after 20 May 1998  when democracy came to Indonesia and human rights became the most important factor in the country. As a result, the government and its law enforcement agencies tend to hesitate every time they want to take actions against violators of the laws.

This situation was used by radical people who claimed to be representing Islam to commit violence in Maluku, Sulawesi, and other regions almost without resistances. Whereas the two major Islam organizations in the country, Nahdatul Ulama (NU) and Muhamadiyah seemed to be silence.

In 2002, those radicals committed suicide bombings in Bali killing 202 people and injuring 209 others mostly foreign tourists, followed by a series of suicide bombings in 2003, 2004 (Jakarta), 2005 (Bali) and 2009 (Jakarta).

After the 2002 bombings, the government established one of the best anti-terrorist Police unit in the world i.e. DENSUS-88 which was very successful in hunting, capturing and eliminating those involved.  

Unfortunately beside those armed violence, there were other violence made by similar radical groups.

Last September 13 members of the FPI attacked a church in Bekasi, West Java, stabbed a priest and beat a member of congregation. However, last Tuesday the Prosecutor only demanded a 6-months jail term for the leader of those attackers.

Last Sunday a mob of 1,500 angry people attacked the mosque of the Ahmadiyah minority sect rejected by Muslims, in Cikeusik, Banten Province, last Sunday killing three members of the sect.

And yesterday an angry crowd dissatisfied with the verdict of the District Court of Temanggung, Central Java, handed down to a man suspected of blasphemy, set fire to the Bethel and Pantekosta churhes and threw stones at the Santo Petrus and Paulus churches.

In reaction to the both violence, President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) has instructed law enforcement agencies to take action on those responsible for the attacks and disband radical groups that are involved in the attacks. 

Further, GP Ansor, the youth organization of N.U as the largest Islamic organization in Indonesia, has sent its members to help reparation of the damaged churches.

Meanwhile, in order to settle the Ahmadiyah case, this evening the House of Representatives has invited the Chief of Police and Minister of Religious Affairs discuss about possible solution.

I hope that the government and the law enforcement agencies would immediately take serious actions as instructed by the president and bring everyone responsible for the attacks to justice, punish them severely and disband any groups or organizations that practice and/or condone violence.

Regarding the Ahmadiyah, perhaps we can follow its origin Pakistan which recognized it as an independent religion separated from Islam. But considering that its existence in Indonesia has been legally recognized since 1953, and efforts to solve this matter by the 2008 Joint Decree of the Minister of Religion, Minister of Home Affairs and Attorney General has not been effective, I hope that the Ahmadiyah would be involved in the discussion about its existence.

Sources :
-  Turning Blind Eye to Religious Bullies (The Jakarta Globe)
-  Bekasi FPI Leader Faces 6-Months Sentence .... (The Jakarta Globe)
-  Police Negligent in Ahmadiyah Attack (Tempointeraktif)
-  Bom Bali 2002 (Wikipedia)
-  Bom JW Marriot 2003 (Wikipedia)
-  Bom Kedubes Australia 2004 (Wikipedia)
-  Bom Bali 2005 (Wikipedia)
-  Bom Jakarta 2009 (Wikipedia)

Terrorist Suspects and Legal Rights

Last Sunday, the Police's Special Unit Densus-88, has successfully dismantled terrorist plot in Medan, North Sumatera.

As in past operations, this time Densus-88 instantly killed three men who were suspected of planning terror activities in the province, among others by robbing a bank in Medan on broad day light and killed one Police officer.

Considering that Indonesia adopted the concept of Rule of Law i.e. Supremacy of Law, Equality before the Law, Presumption of Innocence, and Respect of Human Rights, I wonder whether those men deserve to be killed instantly on the spot.

Please don't get me wrong, I am totally against any act of terror that has caused fear and disorder in society. However, I  felt that anyone suspected as terrorists has the right to defend him/her self in the Court of Law.

It would totally up to the Court Judges to decide whether or not he/she is guilty, and what kind of punishment suitable. If the whole legal proceedings confirmed that the alleged terrorist is guilty and should be sentence to death, execution may be carried out.

Beside that, if the suspected terrorist were captured alive, the Police may have more chance to question and get more information about terrorist network. 

Please find below an article that I have quoted from The Jakarta Globe.  

Terrorists, Bank Robbers or Both? Confusion Within Indonesian Police After Deadly Raids
Farouk Arnaz | September 20, 2010

Jakarta. Confusion continues to surround the deaths of three people killed by members of Indonesia’s elite anti terror forces on Sunday night.

Agence France-Presse reported that the United States-backed Detachment 88 counter-terrorism unit, which shot dead three people, critically wounded two others and arrested another two during two separate raids in North Sumatra, quoted National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan as saying the arrests were linked to bloody heist at CIMB bank in Medan last month. 

But he could not confirm the suspects were involved in terrorist activities. “It’s true that at around 6:30 p.m. we arrested those suspected of robbing CIMB Medan,” Hasan said. “We’re not able to say whether this is related to terrorism.”

Motorcycles and weapons including at least one semi-automatic assault rifle were seized during the operations in Belawan and Tanjung Balai cities of North Sumatra province, he added. 

The Associated Press, meanwhile, said officials disagreed on what crimes the group allegedly committed.

Brig. Gen. Ketut Untung Yoga, deputy spokesman for the National Police, said the men were suspected of involvement in the bank robbery, while North Sumatra Police Chief Maj. Gen. Oegroseno was quoted as saying that the bodies had yet to be identified. 

“We are not yet sure if they are linked to the bank robbery or to other terrorist activities,” he was quoted by Kompas as saying, adding several automatic weapons were seized in the raids. 

A police source to the Jakarta Globe, however, said that one of the properties raided on Sunday belonged to a member of the hard-line group Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, indicating the operation was targeting suspected terrorists.

“The owner of the house, Ahmad Gazali, is a member of JAT,” the source said on Monday.

JAT is led by hard-line cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who is currently being detained at the National Police headquarters on charges related to the militant paramilitary training camp found in neighboring Aceh.

Densus 88 has been criticized in recent months for its high kill-to-capture ratio — with one suspect killed for every four arrested. 

The deaths raise human rights concerns and risk fueling Islamist propaganda and tarnishing what has been a highly praised anti-terrorism campaign that has seen hundreds of suspects arrested and convicted, AP reports.

The killings also mean the suspects cannot be questioned and intelligence on their networks is lost.

Dulmatin

Before ending his speech at the Australian Parliament, President Suslio Bambang (SBY) said that yesterday the Indonesian Anti Terrorists Unit has killed the most wanted terrorist in South East Asia i.e. Dulmatin.

SBY has every reason to be proud, because Dulmatin (39) was wanted by Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and the United States for his acts of terrorism since 2000 in Jakarta, Bali and the Philippines, that has killed hundreds of Australians, Americans, Philippines, Indonesians and people from other countries.

For details, please click here, here and here.

I am glad that the Police's Densus-88 anti Terrorists Unit has once again proven their top abilty in combating terrorism in Indonesia. I hope that the government would follow up this success by eradicating the causes of such evil acts, i.e injustice, poverty, unemployment, corruption.

Photo :  Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Police Vs Terrorists in Aceh

On 15 August 2005, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Central Government in Jakarta and the separatists in the Province of Aceh, ending 29 years of violence there.

Since then, the media stopped reporting about violence and changed its focus into the adoption of strict Islamic Syariah Law in the province.

Last week, the media has reported about the shoot out between the Police's Anti Terrorist Unit, Densus-88, and a group of fully armed terrorists in Aceh Besar Regency, killing 3 Police officers 2 terrorists and 2 civilians. 13 terrorists were arrested and sent to a detention center in Jakarta.

After the shoot out, a group called the “Tandzim Al-Qoidah Indonesia Serambi Makkah” claimed on its blog: alufuq.wordpress.com that they belong to Al-Qaedah terrorist network. The Police is investigating about the said claim.

For details, please click here and here.

Considering that the number of the alleged terrorists were quite big and fully equipped a.o with M-16 automatic rifles, GPS communication, etc. I believe that they must have spent some time to organize themselves.

Is the Malaysian Terrorist Dead?

“Alhamdullilah!” (Arabic for Thank God), that's what I said after I heard that the Malaysian terrorist Noordin M. Top was shot dead by Police Special Unit DENSUS-88 on 7 August, at his hideout in Temanggung, Central Java.

I felt very happy because Noordin and another Malaysian terrorist Azhari, who was killed few years ago, have ‘brainwashed’ some Indonesian Muslims to kill lots of people, mostly Muslims, by their suicide bombings in Bali, Jakarta, Poso and Ambon.

According to National Police Chief Bambang Danuri, at almost the same time the Police has also killed two other terrorists and found 500 Kg Explosives in Jatiasih, Bekasi, West Java, which will be used for suicide bombings at the President's private residence located 5 Kilometers from the location and the State Palace during our independence day celebration on 17 August.
Before the above mentioned raids, the Police have arrested five other terrorists.

In spite of the above, there is one big question: Is the body in Temanggung belongs to Noordin M. Top or an Indonesian who act as his decoy?
Bambang Danuri cannot confirm this, he said that the Police need to conduct a DNA Test on the body and check it with the DNA of the relative of anyone suspected including that of Noordin M. Top.

For details, please click here, here, here and here.

Considering the above, I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to our Police especially the DENSUS 88 Unit for their efforts and success. I hope that there will be more success in the future, for which purpose everyone in Indonesia, including the Armed Forces & citizens, should assist and cooperate closely with the Police.

Photo : Courtesy of Kompas