Robertus Wardi, Ezra Sihite & Carlos K.Y. Paath – The hard-line Islamic Defenders Front is a registered body that can be disbanded if it breaches the new Mass Organizations Law, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said on Thursday, dispelling suggestions it was merely an informal network over which the state had no control.

Gamawan was speaking after Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam said the group known as FPI was not a registered organization and therefore could not be disbanded.

"It's already registered. It's a mass organization. Here [at the Home Affairs Ministry], it's already registered," Gamawan said at the Presidential Palace.

But Gamawan declined to act swiftly against the hard-line group after members last week clashed with residents of Kendal, Central Java, over a raid on what it said was a brothel operating during Ramadan. A bystander woman being killed in the clash.

Gamawan said the law stated that the local administration had responsibility for taking action against a mass organization disrupting public order.

"The law stated that a governor should take action if the incident occurred in the province," the minister said. "If it happened in a district or a city, the district head or the mayor has to handle it. If it happened in the national level, then I would take action."

Dipo on Wednesday said that because the FPI was not a formal group it had no legal status and authorities must look to legally processing its members individually for breaking the law.

"Whoever took the law into their own hands, violated the law, they should be punished. But from what I heard FPI is not registered yet as a mass organization at the Political and National Unity Office," Dipo said.

Around 50 FPI supporters attempted to raid several "entertainment" establishments in Kendal last week. The men damaged several businesses before locals turned on the hard-liners, forcing the FPI to beat a retreat.

As the FPI members attempted to flee, one vehicle ran down a couple on a motorbike, killing the female passenger and injuring her husband. Three FPI members, including the car's driver, have been charged.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the incident and said that the government would not tolerate the kind of vigilantism or violence that the FPI had exhibited.

"My position is very clear – we will not give any form of tolerance," Yudhoyono said on Sunday. "This has to be prevented so that no other entities, including the FPI, engage in any more violence."

The president's statement sparked outrage from the FPI chairman Rizieq Shihab, who called the president a "loser" and a "disgrace to Muslims" for chastising the FPI over the incident.

Call for Ramadan calm

The president on Thursday before a Cabinet meeting repeated his call for all parties to refrain from violence and to respect Ramadan.

"I have said repeatedly that all parties must respect the holy month of Ramadan and refrain from committing any violence, conflict, vandalism and especially anarchism. Let us all respect the month of Ramadan," the president said at the Presidential Palace.

On Wednesday, Gen. Timur Pradopo, the National Police chief, said his office was considering whether there were grounds to charge Rizieq over the insult. "Our investigators are still looking into that," he said.

Insulting the head of state was a punishable offense under the Criminal Code until 2006, when it was struck down by the Constitutional Court.

The provision has been revived in a raft of amendments currently being deliberated by the House of Representatives. However, if passed, the article would not be retroactive.

Didi Supriyanto, a representative of a legal aid foundation, said the police needed strong grounds if they were to charge Rizieq with defamation for his "loser" outcry.

"Evidence is needed in law. Were there any witnesses? All of that must be proven in court," Didi said. Didi said all citizens, including the president, must obey the law.

Investigations ongoing

Timur said the police were developing several vandalism cases involving the FPI relating to incidents in Kendal and Makassar, South Sulawesi. "Let's give the investigators the chance to solve the legal cases," Timur said at the Presidential Palace on Thursday.

Regarding mounting calls for the FPI's disbandment, group spokesman Muhsin Alattas said his organization would automatically dissolve if the authorities properly enforced entertainment establishment law, which places limits on issues relating to alcohol and prostitution.

"If the authorities and government officials were able to enforce the law the FPI would disband," Muhsin told a news conference.

Muhsin accused the media of failing to provide balanced and accurate coverage of the controversy surrounding the FPI.

He insisted that thugs paid by the bosses of the entertainment establishments attacked the FPI first, and added that FPI members were clashing with paid thugs and not with local residents.