FPI leader suspended over HKBP attack

The Islam Defenders Front (FPI) has indefinitely suspended its Bekasi chairman Muharli Barda after the police declared him suspect for his alleged role in an attack on Batak Protestant Church (HKBP) pastors on Sunday.

FPI leader Munarman said Muharli’s suspension would enable the Bekasi chapter of the organization to run unhindered.

“Muharli has become non-active since Wednesday. He has been replaced by Ustaz Abdul Qodir,” Munarman, a former human rights activist, was quoted by kompas.com on Friday.

Munarman said Muharli was in a mosque two kilometers away from the place where eight people attacked HKBP pastors Asian Lumbuan Sihombing and Luspida Simanjuntak prior to a Sunday mass service. Asian was stabbed in the abdomen, while Luspida was beaten in her head.

Munarman also demanded verification of local people’s approval of a plan to build a HKBP church in Pondok Timur, Bekasi, which Munarman said was the root of the problem before the incident took place.

He said 60 local residents had signed their consent as required by the 2006 joint ministerial decree on house of worship, but one of them claimed his signature had been falsified.

“This is a matter of law, not hatred against the HKBP,” Munarman said.

Hard-line group FPI is known for raiding bars, attacking transvestites and going after those considered blasphemous. In Bekasi the group has been opposing establishment of churches, citing lack of locals’ consent.