Friday, December 31, 2010 04:48 AM
Thirteen defendants, including the chairman of the Bekasi branch of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), stood before the court in five separate trials Wednesday on charges of attacking a reverend and a member of a church congregation in Bekasi in September.
In the first trial, prosecutors sought seven years in prison for the defendants, including Bekasi FPI branch leader Raya Murhali Barda, for battery and violence against a reverend and a member of the Huria Batak Protestant Church (HKBP).
“The defendants collectively perpetrated violence against the victims,” prosecutor TM Pakpahan said in the hearing at Bekasi District Court.
The Bekasi Prosecutor’s Office decided to expedite the trials. On Wednesday, trials for the 13 defendants were held in five different courtrooms.
A member of the FPI defense team said that the charges were vague. “We will easily challenge their argument,” said defense lawyer Salih Mangara Sitompul.
On Sept. 12, the defendants attacked HKBP Church Rev. Luspida Simanjuntak and a member of the congregation, Hasian Sihombing, after a long-simmering conflict between church members and local Muslims who objected to the construction of the church.
Hasian was stabbed in the abdomen while Luspida was struck on the head with a wooden plank, according to witnesses and police reports.
Shortly after the attack, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the violence and ordered the police to investigate the case.
“I have instructed all officials at the central and local government to take steps to find a solution to the conflict over places of worship,” Yudhoyono said after a meeting with then National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri and Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto.
In October 2008, FPI leader Riziq Shihab was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for his role in an attack against Muslim liberal activists rallying at the National Monument (Monas) Park to call for religious moderation and tolerance.
A recent survey by the human rights watchdog Setara Institute found that Bekasi is the least tolerant region in Greater Jakarta, with 74 percent of respondents rejecting the construction of places of worship of other religions in their neighborhoods.
Bekasi has seen a number of clashes between religious groups, including one between local Muslims and a Christian foundation accused of proselytization.
Earlier this year, a local group called the Islamic Community Forum demanded the removal of a statue in Bekasi that it deemed symbolic of the Holy Trinity.
do 30 dec 2010 - 21:50