Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – The Madurese Shia leader who became a target of arson recently in the wake of mounting suspicion by mainstream Muslims about misleading practices, is now facing prosecution in relation to religious blasphemy

Tajul Muluk was named a suspect last month and his case was handed to the Sampang prosecutor's office on Thursday afternoon.

Head of Sampang Prosecutors' Office, Danang Purwoko, said the arrest had been made for the sake of Tajul's own safety, considering that he was not accepted by the local community. The prosecutor's move, he said, was expected to put an end to the conflict in Sampang.

"We will bring Tajul's case to court as soon as possible," Danang said on Friday, adding that his office guaranteed Tajul's safety while in detention at the Sampang detention center.

His statement came following criticism from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) over alleged hostilities directed at Tajul from other detainees.

Coordinator of KontraS Surabaya, Andy Irfan, said the commission had received the complaints from Tajul's family. He said Tajul was placed in the same cell other detainees, who were mostly criminals.

"He received both life and physical threats," Andy said on Friday. KontraS condemned the arrest as violating human rights and the freedom of religion.

Tajul was named a suspect for alleged religious blasphemy as well as for public inconvenience on March 15, by the East Java Police.

His suspect status was made following a report filed in January by Tajul's brother cleric Rois Al Hukuma, who accused Tajul of tarnishing Islam. Rois made his accusation based on an edict issued by the Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) Sampang branch that was critical of Tajul Muluk's teaching.

The attack on his pesantren [Islamic boarding school] on Dec. 29 left a school and worship house burned down in Nangkrenang village, Sampang. The house of another Shia follower in Gadhing Laok village, Bluuran subdistrict, Karangpenang also suffered an attack from the crowd.

The attacks forced over 300 to flee for refuge at the indoor tennis court belonging to the Sampang regency administration, some 20 kilometers from their home village. A man with the initial M has been named a suspect in the attack. East Java Governor Soekarwo blamed the attack on an internal family conflict.

Commissioner Hesti Armiwulan of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) expressed surprise over the arrest of Tajul, saying the authorities would need to evaluate the case so as to prevent a human rights violation.

Komnas HAM, Hesti said, had tried to mediate the conflict but failed because the conflicting parties used religious arguments rather than digging into the core of the problem, which was rooted in the internal conflict of a family.

Chairman of the East Java Interfaith Forum, Ghazali Said, said that religious figures and the elites of religious organizations should be able to calm the emotions of their respective communities so as to prevent them from committing attacks or violence against people of different faiths.

"The Shia have been in existence in Madura for decades. Their existence has triggered conflict because religious figures and elites of religious organizations take advantage of it to benefit their own faiths," Ghazali said.