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Surakarta Police stop candlelight vigil for national unity
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Thousands of dancers perform the Sufi Dance at the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI) in Surakarta. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
T
he Surakarta Police dispersed on Sunday evening a candlelight vigil held in front of the Surakarta City Hall, citing a lack of permit as the reason behind its move to stop the assembly.
At the start of the vigil, the police peacefully monitored hundreds of participants, all of whom wore black attire as they gathered in front of City Hall at around 6 p.m. However, as the crowd grew, the police told the participants to leave the area.
The crowd ignored the warning and sang the national anthem, prompting the police to form a barricade.
"This evening's gathering violated Law No. 9/1998 [on freedom of expression]. That is why we dismissed it," said Surakarta Police head of operations Comr. Arief Joko Saptomo.
Arief said the police did not intend to put a stop to the gathering. "But we hadn't received any notifications about it," he said.
A member of the vigil's organizing committee, Mujiono, said his committee had yet to inform the police about it. He, however, defended the participants, saying they only intended to call for national unity and tolerance.
"They came here by their own will. Also, this gathering has nothing to do with similar assemblies in other cities," he said. (msa/wit)
