National Police ready to testify against FPI

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Wednesday November 12 2014


National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronnie Sompie says the police are willing to testify against the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) if necessary, after acting Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s request to have the hard-line organization disbanded.

Ronnie explained that National Police chief Gen. Sutarman said the FPI should not be allowed to exist as a civil organization if it continued to act anarchically and violently.

“We will testify to support the case if we have to. This is the police’s responsibility as an institution,” Ronnie said on Wednesday as quoted by tempo.co.

He added that the police were gathering information related to the FPI’s anarchic practices from their Intelligence and Security Department.

Ahok submitted a recommendation letter to the Law and Human Rights Ministry on Tuesday, calling for the disbandment of the FPI on the grounds that the organization’s actions were against the Constitution.

In the letter, Ahok’s reasons supporting the disbandment of the FPI included the group’s anarchic demeanor, its spreading of hate, its attempt to halt his inauguration as governor of Jakarta through hateful means and purposefully creating traffic jams to the disadvantage of the people.

The FPI has staged three massive rallies in the last three months against Ahok’s upcoming governorship, mainly on the grounds that he is a Christian of Chinese descent.

During one of the rallies in October, FPI members threw stones and dung at police officers, injuring 16. As a result, the police arrested more than 20 FPI members, including senior member Novel Bamu’min.



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