Zaki Pawas, Jakarta – Police in Bekasi arrested a struggling poet and a street singer on Thursday evening, accusing them of involvement in last month's attack on members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church of Pondok Timur Indah in Bekasi.

Police say the men were not members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). That group had been strongly suspected of orchestrating the Sept. 12 attack, in which a church elder was stabbed and the minister beaten.

Comr. Ade Ary Syam, head of the crime investigation unit within the Bekasi Police, identified the men as Aji Ahmad Faisal, 28, of Kampung Bojong in Bekasi, and Supriyanto, 25, of Cililitan in East Jakarta. "Ari writes poetry while Supriyanto is a street singer who usually performs on buses," Ade Ary said.

Supriyanto was arrested at a bus stop in front of the Indonesia Christian University (UKI) in East Jakarta at around 4:30 pm, while Aji was arrested near the Crown Hotel in South Jakarta.

Aji has confessed to stabbing one member of the congregation, also known as HKBP, and police found and confiscated the weapon that was thrown at a bush near the stabbing site, police alleged.

Police said Supriyatno had admitted during interrogation that he had wanted to pick a fight. "They acted in solidarity with the Muslims to reject HKBP in Ciketing," police said.

Both are charged with Article 170 of the Criminal Code for battery. If found guilty they could face five years in prison.

Police continue to look for another suspect, identified only by the initial Z, also believed to have participated in the attack.

Witnesses of the Sept. 12 attack said a group of men on motorcycles accosted the churchgoers as they walked to hold their services at the Ciketing vacant lot they had used since their church was sealed last year.

Separately, a lawyer representing members of the FPI who had been arrested in the attack, said it was the result of a dispute between some members of the congregation and a random motorcyclist who accidentally hit one of them. The church has been at odds with Islamic hard-liners, who have objected to its presence in the area.

Police said there was no proof that the attack was related to religious conflict, but a leader of the FPI's Bekasi chapter has been named a suspect for inciting violence. They have accused FPI leader Murhali Barda of provoking the attack against church leaders.

He may face charges of violating four articles of the criminal code – inciting people to violence, group violence, maltreatment and a premeditated attempt to cause serious injuries, and faces up to 12 years in jail if found guilty.

HKBP congregations in Bekasi and East Karawang in West Java, as well as the GKI Yasmin Church in Bogor, have also seen their places of worship sealed off or blocked by protesters this year because they did not have permits to worship there.