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owing to pressure from the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), the Jakarta Police decided on Friday not to give the go-ahead for a discussion on terrorism scheduled for Saturday.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Mohammad Iqbal confirmed on Friday that the FPI had taken issue with the Association of Journalists for Diversity'€™s (Sejuk) decision to put up a provocative poster advertising the event. The poster depicted the Islamic State (IS) flag next to the FPI'€™s official logo.

'€œSo the committee made a poster that the FPI protested because it had a photo of the IS flag and the FPI'€™s logo next to each other. So we facilitated a mediation between Sejuk and the FPI to prevent any possible security issues,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

Iqbal said that following the meeting, a deal was struck for the event to be dropped.

'€œWe then received news that there was no longer a problem and that the committee had apologized. We also got word that the committee then canceled the event,'€ Iqbal said.

In a statement on Friday evening, Sejuk said that it was disappointed with the police force'€™s move, which it deemed to have failed to provide safety to the public and protect freedom of speech.

'€œSejuk is concerned that pressure and censorship of this sort will make the discussion of religion, an issue perceived to be sensitive, taboo and best avoided. Sejuk recognizes that law enforcement is more likely to censor discussions with themes that it perceives as sensitive,'€ the association said in the statement.

Sejuk also said that the organization had promoted events that could help the government and security authorities.

'€œSejuk'€™s activities, which include discussions, workshops and other events have always supported the government, especially the police because we discuss ways to handle radicalization and increase tolerance.'€

One of Sejuk'€™s members, Andy Budiman, said that the organization had agreed to design a new poster for the event but insisted against apologizing to the FPI.

Andy emphasized that '€œwe are not saying that the police had banned [the event] but we are disappointed that the police force could not guarantee that the event would be able to take place,'€ he said, as quoted by kompas.com.

The discussion was expected to feature Tempo chief editor Arif Zulkifli and terrorism expert Sydney Jones.

However, Iqbal vehemently denied that the police had pressured Sejuk to cancel the event by making a thinly veiled threat that they could not guarantee the participants'€™ safety if the FPI decided to disrupt the discussion.

'€œAs I have already said, the committee canceled the event on its own initiative,'€ he said.

Meanwhile, deputy chairman of the FPI'€™s central board, Ja'€™far Shodiq, claimed that he had no knowledge of the complaint made by the organization'€™s Jakarta branch.

However, he said that it was completely legitimate for FPI Jakarta to express its grievances against the poster as it was offensive and insinuated that the FPI had connections to IS.

'€œIf they want to discuss radicalism then they should just stick to that, don'€™t drag the FPI into it. Don'€™t just use people'€™s logos. The use of our logo next to an IS flag just goes to show that they think we are one and the same,'€ he said.

Ja'€™far acknowledged that the FPI did use flags that had Islam'€™s holiest phrase, '€œThere is no God but Allah'€ inscribed on them, as the IS flag does, but this did not mean Sejuk could draw a parallel between the two organizations.

'€œThe [phrase] belongs to all Muslims and can be used by any of us,'€ he said, adding that, '€œit is totally justifiable that the Jakarta branch made the complaint. Although [the central board] only observes their activities, we approve of it as it shows that they care about their organization.'€

The FPI is known to conduct raids on entertainment venues, including nightclubs and small food stalls, with some having turned violent in the past.

A number of FPI activists in East Java, who often stage '€œhate speech'€ rallies against minority groups, are reportedly now flocking to Syria to join IS. (agn)