Jakarta – The government has strong legal justifications for disbanding the radical Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and arresting followers who assaulted people rallying for religious tolerance, experts, activists and Muslim scholars said Monday.
The call came as condemnation mounted against Sunday's attack by the FPI on activists from the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion (AKKBB) to mark the 63rd year of Pancasila state ideology.
"The justice and human rights minister can take legal action by asking the court to disband the hard-line group," senior lawyer and presidential advisor Adnan Buyung Nasution said. "The minister should take the initiative to disband all groups that commit violence in this country."
According to the AKKBB, 70 activists were injured by FPI members, who kicked them and beat them with bamboo sticks.
Setara Institute director Hendardi, a legal expert, said the FPI should be dealt with firmly because the group had frequently launched attacks on other groups.He said all groups, including the FPI, that justified violence to achieve their goals should be dissolved.
Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalata said any organization that became a legal entity could be disbanded. He could not say if the FPI was a legal entity registered with his office.
"Don't you see this is the freedom that we have always demanded? You don't like it? This means that freedom is also needed to maintain public order. So don't be angry when we try to curb anarchism," Andi said.
Buyung also criticized police for failing to intervene in the attack on Sunday. "It was so surprising that the police just stood there and let the violence happen. They should have immediately arrested the attackers and their leaders," he said.
Constitutional Court chief Jimly Assiddiqie confirmed the government could take legal action to disband any organization. "It is the court that has the authority to dissolve an organization," he said, adding he would discuss the issue with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The AKKBB reported the attack to the National Police through its lawyer Asfinawati. It claimed another hard-line group, Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), was also involved in the violence.
HTI spokesman Ismail Yusanto expressed concern over the incident, saying it would not have occurred if the government had taken a firm stance against Jamaah Ahmadiyah, an Islamic sect that an official panel declared "heretical".
Wahid Institute director Yenny Zannuba Wahid said the violence was "definitely thuggery".
"The government must be assertive in combating any form of thuggery," she said. "The police should immediately detain all suspects and punish them, especially their leaders. We shouldn't give such people any room to carry out their harmful actions in this country.
"Disbanding a group such as this one will be less effective because they can reappear under other names and identities. The most important thing is punishing its leaders," Yenny said.
Condemnation against the attack was also voiced by influential clerics in Cirebon, West Java, including Syarief Utsman Yahya, Wawan Arwani, Husein Muhammad, Luthful Hakim, Badrudin and Habib Husein Yahya. They demanded the government take strong action against the FPI attackers and bring them to justice. (trw/alf)