T

he Yogyakarta Police on Tuesday questioned a local resident identified only as TM in connection with inciting dozens of armed hard-liners and local residents to attack a Pentecostal church in Sleman regency.

Yogyakarta Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Anny Pudjiastuti said based on video footage recorded by the police, TM was seen vandalizing the establishment already vacated by the congregation after a Sunday service. '€œAside from damaging the church, he is also accused of encouraging local residents to take part in the attack,'€ Anny said.

Local residents, along with members of the Islamic Jihad Front (FJI) and the Islamic People'€™s Forum (FUI), were allegedly involved in the attack after learning that the church had been reopened despite having no license as a place of worship.

Police and military personnel were present during the attack but did not prevent the protesters from throwing stones through the church'€™s windows, according to witnesses.

'€œThe conditions were unconducive; the police could not take action as it would have risked the safety of the residents there,'€ Anny reasoned.

No one was injured in the attack.

Two days before the incident, around 15 unidentified individuals attacked a group of Catholics who were praying at a house in Ngaglik, Sleman.

The police have arrested a suspect, identified as only KH, who lived near the targeted house. The police have also identified other suspects.

Anny said the violence in Ngaglik was not linked to religion.

'€œIt was spontaneous. Local residents were annoyed that the road was blocked by motorcycles parked by members of the rosary group,'€ Anny emphasized.

However, the Association of Catholic Scholars (ISKA) suggested that both attacks were acts of sectarian violence.

'€œThe government must take firm action to address religious intolerance violence in Yogyakarta ['€¦] ISKA is disappointed by the police'€™s inability to prevent either incident,'€ ISKA presidium chair Muliawan Margadana said.

Similar disappointment at the police'€™s performance was also expressed by Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono on Monday.

In response, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar pointed out that the police were not the sole party responsible for maintaining religious tolerance.

'€œTolerance is not built by the police alone. The police are only a component tasked with ensuring public order. In relation to public behavior, other parties contribute to that,'€ he said.

'€œFor instance, religious leaders, local figures and regional leaders could educate their citizens not to engage in such violence,'€ Boy continued.

National Police chief Gen. Sutarman urged the public not to organize collective worship in private residences on a regular basis in order to avoid sectarian conflict in the future. '€œCollective worship organized routinely in private residences is not allowed. It is outrageous. Friday prayers [for Muslims] or prayer meetings [for Christians] should not be held in houses,'€ said Sutarman.

Activists grouped under the Yogyakarta Anti-Violence Community (Makaryo) said they would report the police, Hamengkubuwono and the regents of Sleman, Gunungkidul and Bantul for being ignorant of the signs of rising sectarian violence in the province.

'€œFor the past six months, we have raised awareness that Yogyakarta is in a state of emergency in terms of sectarian violence. The authorities are always late to respond,'€ said Makaryo coordinator Benny Susanto.

'€œWe'€™ve recorded eight incidents of sectarian violence this year. No one has been brought to justice.'€

The Sleman incidents add to the number of religious intolerance cases in Yogyakarta.

In January, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Yogyakarta branch called on the police to freeze or disband institutions or organizations whose members were adherents of Shia Islam.