Police Demand Government Regulation to TackleRradical Groups

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The National Police have requested the government to immediately issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to deal with the followers of radical groups in Indonesia.

"Perhaps we need to improve our existing anti-terrorism law or immediately issue a Perppu. The two alternatives need to be discussed together," the National Polices head of Public Relations Division Brigadier General Anton Charliyan said at the National Police Headquarters here on Thursday.

According to him, the police can act against a member of a radical group only after he/she is found to have indulged in terror acts such as possessing illegal arms, assembling bombs, and carrying out bombings or killings.

Until now, however, no legal umbrella has been established to deal with the sympathizers of radical groups in Indonesia, he added.

A large number of Indonesian citizens who have gone to the Middle East have left the police worrying. At the same time, the government has been unable to prevent people possessing immigration documents from going abroad, he noted.

"So long as a person has no criminal records, we cannot prevent him/her from going abroad, for example, even if it is to participate in a war. Who can prevent anyone who has all the immigration documents from going abroad," he pointed out.

He observed that some 514 Indonesian citizens are believed to be in Syria, but it has not been known yet whether they have been involved in the activities of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

"We are still investigating their activities," he added. (WDY)