T

he National Police say they have halted a plan by alleged supporters of the Islamic State (IS) movement to hold a gathering in the Central Java city of Semarang scheduled for this Sunday.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Agus Rianto told reporters on Thursday that police in Semarang, East Java, had talked organizers of the event into canceling it.

'€œYes, a group of people promoted the gathering at a mosque by putting up posters that depicted the IS flag, but we have met with them and they have agreed to cancel it,'€ Agus said at National Police headquarters in South Jakarta.

The poster, which was first published on Indonesian hard-line website al-mustaqbal.net, invited people to join a talk titled '€œThey are jihadists, not those who abandon Islam: Defending the Caliphate that has been defamed'€ at Madyo Mangunkarso mosque in Semarang on Sunday.

The poster features the IS flag along with pictures of some well-known figures, including al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.

The poster went viral on social media, prompting Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi to alert the local police.

Although the police have prevented the gathering from taking place, terrorism experts are calling on the authorities to remain alert to similar events that could occur in the future.

Institute of International Peace Building founder Noor Huda Ismail said the police should keep a close eye on the Semarang event'€™s organizing committee, which included hard-line group Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, for any suspicious
activities.

'€œIS supporters attending such an event in public mosques will not openly state their support [for the movement]. However, many Muslim activists end up joining IS after they attend such gatherings, like Bahrumsyah,'€ he said, referring to a Jakarta college student who appeared in an IS video last August.

Although the police cannot arrest people who join such gatherings as they are not joining open IS recruitment sessions, Noor Huda said they could conduct surveillance on individuals.

The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) has reported that more than 500 Indonesians have joined the IS fighting in the civil war in Syria and Iraq.

Last month, Malaysia deported 12 Indonesians, mostly from East Java, who were allegedly on their way to Syria to join the IS.

Terrorism expert Al Chaidar said hard-line movements were active in Semarang and Yogyakarta, with many young people interested in joining the jihadist movement.

'€œPeople are being told that jihad is the only way for Muslims to go to heaven without having to go through Judgement Day. It'€™s all based on the fear of doomsday,'€ he said.

Meanwhile, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said that the IS did not constitute a threat to the country.

Komnas HAM deputy chief Siane Indriani said the government should be more concerned about the widening gap between rich and poor that could drive people to join extreme movements.

Siane said that to deal with such extreme groups, the government needed to firmly uphold the law.

'€œEnforce the law on radical groups, because the longer the government defers action, the more power it grants such groups to defend their violent actions,'€ Siane said.