City D.A. terms Agus' sect deviant, not misguided

The South Jakarta District Attorney, after a closed two-hour discussion with the Coordinating Body for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society on Friday, has yet to proclaim the sect accused of promoting orgies and insulting religion as misguiding.

"For the time being we found the sect deviant. To say they are misguiding people would require further investigation," said Setia Untung Arimuladi, head district attorney, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The discussion was also attended by representatives from the South Jakarta Police, the District Military Commmand, and the Religious Affairs Ministry.

Setia said the sect was considered deviant because its leader Agus Imam Solihin has claimed to be God and has told his followers to stop obeying Islamic tenets.

Agus surrendered to the police on Thursday after three days in hiding. The police accused Agus of preventing a member of the sect from seeking medical help, which may have contributed to her death.

Agus is also charged with indecency for allegedly promoting orgies among sect members. (dre)