TEMPO Magazine, November 13 - 19, 2001
National
Church Bombing
From Ambon to the Capital
Two suspects of the Petra Church bombing admit belonging to a group called the
Mujahidin Kompak group. Why are they targeting Father Martinus Noya?
The name Mujahidin Kompak has become a hot topic of conversation. Police Insp.
Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb mentioned it first. At a recent press conference, the Metro Jaya
Police Chief announced that Ujang Haris, 17, and Wahyu Handoko, 20, had claimed
membership of the Mujahidin Kompak. The two youths have been arrested as
suspects in the bombing of the Western Indonesia Protestant Church (GPIB) Petra, in
North Jakarta, Friday last week.
During police investigations, Ujung and Wahyu also admitted to having engaged in
similar activities in Ambon. In Jakarta, they were targeting any group they considered
their enemies. In short, said Sofjan, "they brought problems of Ambon over here," said
Sofjan.
The findings by the police makes some sense if one looks at the activities of the
church last Friday evening, located on Jalan Jampea. At the time of the bombing,
Petra Church was conducting a religious service titled "Maluku Prays". This program,
coordinated by Harry Soisa, a member of the Masnaid vocal group, was held by the
church's congregation to express their concern for the welfare of the Malukans.
In fact, such activities have been ongoing for almost two years, but this was the first
act of terror they have faced so far. At 8pm in the evening, as the congregation was
midway through a service, a loud explosion shattered the peace. A homemade
bomb--comprising a pipe filled with nails and buckshot--had exploded in the church.
There were no fatalities, only broken glass and damaged walls from the scattered
projectiles.
Why had Petra church been targeted? According to the Head of Official Police
Intelligence for Greater Jakarta, Chief Comm. Anton Bachrul Alam, the Mujahidin
Kompak were really after Father Martinus Noya. This Maluku-born and bred priest had
indeed been scheduled to give a discourse about the contemporary conditions faced
by the Malukans. The attackers may have suspected that the event was to foster
moral support for the Christian cause in the Malukus. Hence the Mujahidin group's
endeavor was to do away with Martinus Noya.
But this Mujahidin Kompak group referred to by the Metro Jaya police is a mystery.
This is the first time the name has emerged in any public discourse. In fact, the name
Kompak has been mentioned in relation to the religious conflict in Maluku. It is known
that is the Kompak is registered as an NGO. This relatively active institution in
Maluku was established by activists from the Islamic Propagation Council.
Since its establishment in August 1998, Kompak busied itself collecting funds for its
social activities in Maluku. Kompak, an acronym for Komite Penanggulangan Krisis
(Committee for Crisis Control), focuses on providing food, clothing and medicines to
communities victimized by the religious and ethnic conflicts. Other conflict areas such
as Aceh, Sampit and Poso alsobenefit from Kompak's activities.
It is not clear whether this is the organization referred to by the police. What is clear,
however, is that Kompak activists were shocked when their institution was mentioned
in relation to the bombing of Petra Church. The Deputy Head of Kompak, H. Amlir
Syaifa Yassin, said that he had no idea who the two suspects were. A similar
response was provided by Kompak representatives in West Java, the home area of
Ujang Haris, one of the suspects. Jusuf Islami, an Ambonese-based activist for
Kompak said the same thing. As far as he can recall, the two named suspects were
never involved with Kompak in Maluku.
Muhammad Hafidz, one Kompak leader, suspects foul play behind the accusation.
"I'm worried that this is really an effort to discredit Kompak," he said. Because of this
he has requested that the police not only arrest the actors, but also hunt down the
mastermind of the bombing.
According to Anton Bachrul Alam, the police already have a detailed profile of the
group accused and the brains behind it. But Anton has not yet revealed this
information. "If it is revealed, they will escape," he said.
So, the reference to Mujahidin Kompak may be just a tactic to flush out the real
criminal. Only the police would know for sure.
Hartono, Edy Budiarso, Yusnita Tiakoli (Ambon)
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