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Killings of suspected terrorists is murder: Hard-line cleric

Source
Jakarta Globe - October 12, 2009

Candra Malik – Radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir said police committed murder when they killed suspected terrorists Muhammad Syahrir and Saefudin Jaelani during a raid in Ciputat, Tangerang on Friday.

"The police sought to murder the martyrs to kill jihad and dakwah [the spreading of the word of Islam]. But their deed was futile," Bashir said. The jihadi movement against the United States and its cronies would never die, he said.

Abdurrahim, founder of Al Ghuraba, a jihadist group that once fought in Afghanistan, and a close friend of suspected terrorist Muhammad Jibril, also denounced the raid.

"The police took that step to quickly settle their affairs. Rather than fighting it out in the court, better to just kill the suspects," he said.

Meanwhile, three hardline groups, the Islamic Studies and Action Center, Surakarta Muslim Soldiers (LUIS) and Indonesian Muslim Youth Solidarity (SPII) demanded that National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri step down for violating human rights by not doing his utmost to capture the suspected terrorists alive.

"The police even shot Air Setiawan, Eko Sarjono, and Hadi Susilo to death and they're not even on the wanted list," said a spokesperson for the organizations, referring to suspects killed in another raid.

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