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Novel nabbed but FPI to stage rally again
Novel Bamuâmin
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Novel Bamu'min. Antara/Ridwan Fuad
The Jakarta Police arrested the hard-line group Islam Defenders Front's (FPI) secretary-general, Novel Bamu'min, on Thursday. He is suspected of organizing last Friday's violent protest in front of City Hall in Central Jakarta.
'He has been detained for further investigation into his role as one of the coordinators of last Friday's demonstration,' Jakarta Police chief detective of general crimes Sr. Comr. Heru Pranoto told reporters.
Heru said that Novel might face a maximum sentence of six years' imprisonment for provoking others to violate laws under Article 160 of the Criminal Code.
Besides Novel, the Jakarta Police have named 21 FPI members as suspects. However, this has not deterred them from protesting.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said members of the FPI and the Islamic People's Forum (FUI) were scheduled to demonstrate at the Jakarta Legislative Council in Central Jakarta to protest again against Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama being sworn in as Jakarta governor.
'There are around 200 men and women scheduled to protest there Friday,' he said.
Novel had turned himself in at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Heru said, and was questioned for around nine hours at the directorate of general crimes. The questioning continued the next day and the police decided to detain him by 1 p.m. Thursday.
The Jakarta Police had been looking for Novel since Saturday and sent wanted posters to all police precincts under their jurisdiction on Wednesday. Heru said that Novel had been moving from one place to another within Jakarta.
Another high-ranking FPI member, Shahabudin Anggawi, who turned himself in last Saturday after being named a suspect, may also face the same charge as Novel. He had also been arrested by
the police.
Novel and Shahabudin were named in the FPI's protest announcement sent to the police as the coordinators of the protest against the appointment of Ahok, a Protestant of Chinese descent, as governor to replace outgoing Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, who will be inaugurated as president on Oct. 20.
The protest turned into a riot and left 16 police officers injured and damaged several cars.
Ahok himself challenged the police to disband the FPI due to their repeated violent acts and revealed that the Jakarta-based FPI was not registered as a community organization with the city's administration's National and Political Unity Office (Kesbangpol).
However, several activists have protested the association between the FPI's criminal acts and the freedom of organization. Fransisca Fitri, the coordinator of the Freedom of Association Coalition (KKB) said that charging the suspects with the code was enough of a sanction to punish them. Whether or not an organization was registered at Kesbangpol had no connection with the violent acts conducted by the FPI, she said. (fss)
