Farouk Arnaz – Moving swiftly in the face of mounting concerns over religious violence, the Central Java Police have identified the alleged ringleaders of last week's riot and burning of churches in Temanggung.
Nine people were injured, and police sources have identified the leader of the attack as local cleric Syhabudin, 46, and his accomplice as Lutfi Hakim Aziz, 33, although the police have refused to officially confirm the names.
"I cannot mention their names, but for sure one of them is a cleric from a local Islamic boarding school," said the province's chief of detectives, Sr. Comr. Didit Widjanardi.
The 24 suspects, including Syhabudin and Lutfi, arrested as of Friday were mostly villagers from Sigedhong who were "mobilized" by the ringleaders, he added.
Temanggung has long been a breeding ground for Islamist extremists and was one of the areas where early members of Jemaah Islamiyah were recruited.
In 2009, police killed Ibrohim, the florist at the Marriott Hotel who is believed to have smuggled the bomb into the hotel in advance of the July 2009 terrorist attack, in Temanggung.
In 2007, officers arrested Temanggung resident Mujaddid, an accomplice of Noordin M. Top, for his involvement in the sectarian conflict in Poso, Central Sulawesi, in the late 1990s.
Police officials said over the weekend that they were moving quickly on this case because it has drawn intense public scrutiny, including pressure from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who denounced the church attacks and threatened to disband groups that promoted violence.
Coming two days after the deadly attack on Ahmadiyah followers in Banten, the church attacks drew widespread condemnation and international concern over the scope of religious intolerance in Indonesia.
In the Temanggung riot, police say the violence appeared to be premeditated and well-organized, with the ringleaders seeking to use the verdict in a blasphemy trial to stir up trouble.
"The investigation is still on going," Didit said. "We are very busy completing their dossiers, extracting information and making arrests because this case is drawing public attention."
Didit said the suspects were moved for their own safety on Saturday to the provincial police headquarters in Semarang.
Police have so far identified the leader only as "SYB," saying he was a cleric from Wonoboyo.
"SYB is the one who organized and gave directions," Central Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said on Saturday. "They [the rioters] received fuel money and a rice box that SYB probably bought using his own money or money from his sympathizers. We are still investigating where the funds came from."
Meanwhile, Mahendradatta, a member of the Muslim Defenders Team (TPM), which has provided legal representation for radical suspects in the past, said it had not yet decided if it would defend the leader of the Temanggung riot. "We received a request [to represent him] from the head of the Ka'abah Youth Movement [GPK]," he said.
GPK is the youth wing of the Islam-based United Development Party (PPP), which is chaired by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali.