Farouk Arnaz – Members of the hard-line Islamic People's Forum (FUI) on Friday accused the National Police of planning to fabricate terrorism charges against cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.
"We have received information that the National Police will soon name as a suspect and arrest Abu Bakar Bashir," FUI secretary general Muhammad Al Khaththath said during a demonstration at National Police headquarters in Jakarta.
"We believe this is being engineered to corner Muslims by naming Bashir and other Muslim leaders as suspects after the recent paramilitary training in Aceh."
The group also demanded the disbandment of the police's elite anti-terror squad, Densus 88.
Another forum official, Munarman, said: "We know exactly that we, as Muslims, are being entrapped. All these allegations are based on comments by Sofyan Tsauri, a police deserter named as a suspect by police over the Aceh paramilitary training."
He asked how Sofyan could arrange shooting practice for militants inside the headquarters of the police's elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob), on the outskirts of Jakarta, as had been claimed. "We believe he is an agent to entrap Muslims," Munarman said.
Sofyan was an officer with the Depok Police. He is alleged to have illegally obtained weapons and ammunition from inside National Police headquarters, including 12 AK-15 rifles and about 12,000 bullets.
But National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri has dismissed the entrapment claims, saying Sofyan was influenced by a militant cleric.
Police have named three members of an Islamist group led by hard-line cleric Bashir as suspects for helping to fund an armed group in Aceh that had allegedly been planning an attack on the Presidential Palace on Independence Day.
The three members of Bashir's Jamaah Anshoru Tauhid (JAT) were among at least 14 suspects arrested in several locations, including the group's Jakarta office, on May 6. But police later released 11 of them.
Haris Amir Falah, Hariadi Usman and doctor Syarif Usman, are still in custody. Haris heads JAT's Jakarta chapter, while Hariadi and Usman are members.
Police sources have previously said they are close to naming Bashir as a suspect and have plans for when and where to arrest him. But a National Police spokesman, Brig. Gen. Zainuri Lubis, said on Friday he had not heard anything about Bashir's imminent arrest.