Police Named Flag Burners Suspects

Jakarta, MINA — The police has named two members of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)`s youth wing suspects in a flag-burning case.

“We have three suspects in the flag burning in Garut. F and M as the flag burners and U who brought in the flag,”Antara News quoted West Java Police` Director for General Crime Investigation Unit Senior. Commissioner Umar Surya Fana as saying in a short message here on late Monday.

The police previously named U as a suspect in the case that occurred during the commemoration of the National Santri Day in Garut, West Java.

The three suspects would be charged with article 174 of the Criminal Code for igniting disorder in a public event with maximum penalty of three weeks in prison.

The police named the two members of the NU`s security task force (Banser NU) after it found evidence on their involvement in the case.

“Investigators made a conclusion based on evidence. Without evidence, we cannot make a final conclusion. And during the investigation process we have found new evidence,” he said.

On October 22, a flag containing the Arabic writing of Tahweed (Oneness of God) was burned by several members of Banser NU in Garut.

The flag was carried to the venue of the National Santri Day commemoration in Limbangan Square in Garut by U, who claimed the flag as that of HTI, an Islamic organization that the Indonesian Government had banned.

F and M then seized the flag and burned it.

However, the spontaneous act has sparked public anger as the flag contained the Tawheed writing and they believed that it was not HTI`s flag.

For millions of Muslims around the world, Tauhid (Tawheed), is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam and the religion`s central and single-most important concept, upon which a Muslim`s entire faith rests.

The incident was condemned by various Islamic clerics arguing that the flag containing the writing of Tawheed was commonly used by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). .(T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)