“One of them got off a bike and suddenly stabbed [church elder] Hasean Lumbantoruan Sihombing in the stomach. Then they fled the scene,” Sitorus said, adding that they were about 500 meters from the church when the incident happened.

Rev. Luspida Simandjuntak, who tried to help Sihombing, was struck on the head with a plank of wood.
Both Sihombing and Luspida were rushed to Mitra Keluarga Hospital in East Bekasi for treatment. Sihombing was admitted in a serious condition with a knife wound to his liver, while Luspida suffered concussion.

Bekasi Police chief Sr. Comr. Imam Sugianto said his officers had arrested two people in relation with the attack.

Imam, however, refused to identify those arrested.

“They’re still being held as suspects,” he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Separately, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Timur Pradopo said the police’s preliminary investigation concluded the assaults were a “purely criminal act”, adding that police had found no link to recent interfaith conflicts.

Timur also said he would immediately solve the case, adding that police were questioning nine witnesses.

Luspida said in an interview with a private television station that she knew the person who hit her, but did not go into detail.

The attacks have enraged many people, including those condemning the attacks online.  

Noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis posted on Twitter that the stabbing was not a common crime.

“This [attack] is an act of terrorism toward citizens’ right to worship. This act is severing our nation’s pillar of diversity,” he writes.

The attacks were not the first aimed at the HKBP church group.

Hundreds of people from the hard-line Islamic Community Forum (FUI) attacked members of the church last month, injuring around 20 people, most of whom were women.

HKBP East Bekasi has been in the area for nearly 10 years, with individuals holding services at congregations’ homes.

By 2007,  the group had managed to raise enough money to purchase a 1,000-square-meter plot of land in Jejalen Jaya subdistrict where they planned to construct a church. Construction on the church, however, has not yet begun because their building permit requests to the Bekasi Interfaith Communication Forum (FKUB) and the Bekasi regency have remained unanswered for more than a year.

One of founders of the Setara Institute, an NGO that deals with civil rights and democracy, Catholic priest father Benny Susetyo said that if the government did not take swift action to charge the suspects, the attack would be interpreted as an interfaith issue.

“The government should take care of the root of the problem, which was facilitating a place for the church congregation to worship,” Father Benny said.

Similarly, Indira Fernida from the National Commission on Human Rights called the government to renew its commitment to protect the rights of the people to do worship.

“Violence has gone on in Bekasi for quite a while, the police should take action to guarantee and protect this religious congregation,” Indira said.

Presidential adviser on legal affairs, Denny Indrayana said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had instructed Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto to closely monitor investigations into the attacks.

Denny said the President also instructed National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri to track down the culprits and find the motive behind the attacks. (not/ipa)

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