T

he police are blaming the media for associating the communal dispute in Bekasi regency between the HKBP Filadelfia congregation and the locals there, saying it is a personal dispute rather than a common group conflict.

Bekasi Police Chief Sr. Comr. Isnaeni Ujiarto told The Jakarta Post that locals in the area were simply questioning the congregation’s stance to continue services at the church, despite the regency administration’s seal on the building.

“Locals are just enforcing the seal,” he said on Friday.

“True, there may be some disputes with the congregation and that is actually what is happening. But there is nothing that clearly shows this is a religious issue.”

Police have scheduled a questioning session for next Wednesday with HKBP Filadelfia church priest Palti Panjaitan, after they officially named him a suspect on Tuesday in connection with an alleged attack on several members of a hard-line group on Christmas Eve.

The naming followed a police report made by Islamic Community Forum (FUI) member Abdul Aziz, who claimed to have been assaulted by Palti on that night.

Isnaeni said that Abdul had also been named a suspect after Palti reported him for threatening murder.

“We named Abdul [a suspect] earlier. But it became bigger when Palti was named a suspect, because the priest has connections with the media. It’s actually the same case,” Isnaeni said.

“The Police are doing their job. If we find enough evidence to name someone a suspect, then we do so. Who is right and who is wrong is decided in court, not by us,” he added.

According to Hamonangan Manurung, a congregation member of the church, who said he also witnessed the incident, locals and several people from the forum attacked the church congregation on Christmas Eve and told them to stop the service.

“Animal waste, dirt and much more was thrown at us. We were also pushed away from the church,” he said. “But we never fought back.”

He also said that there was nothing personal in the naming of Palti as a suspect.

”It happened during a mass, of course it was a religious issue,” he said.

Palti could not be reached for comment.

Hamonangan said Abdul had met with Palti during the incident and tried to assault the pastor directly. He also cited the report as a form of defamation and slander.

Hamonangan said that many police officers were guarding the area during the incident.

“If it’s true that the priest assaulted Abdul, then [police officers] would have arrested him at the scene, right?” he said.

A similar incident occurred with a GKI Yasmin church congregation member in Bogor, West Java. Jayadi Damanik was named a suspect for allegedly assaulting Bogor Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) chief Bambang Budiyanto in October 2011, although the report was later withdrawn.

Previously, Bambang was reported by the beleaguered church congregation for prohibiting them from offering services. (fzm)

Sita W. Dewi contributed to the article