Sampang suspect dossier handed over to prosecutors

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Indonesia | Archipelago | Thu, October 25 2012, 4:11 PM

The East Java Police handed over the dossier of Rois Al Hukama, a suspect in the Sampang clash between local Sunni and Shia Muslims, which killed two Shiites, to the East Java Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday.

The dossier had been declared complete.

East Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Hilman Thayib said that the police charged Rois with multiple articles of the Criminal Code, including Article 340 on premeditated murder, Article 338 on murder, Article 170 on group assault and Article 187 on arson, which carries a maximum sentence of the death penalty.

“Rois has been proven to be involved in arson, vandalism and assaults, which resulted in the deaths of other people,” Hilman said Thursday in his office as quoted by tempo.co.

In August, dozens of Shiites’ homes in Nangkernang village, Sampang, East Java, were destroyed and set ablaze by an anti-Shia mob, forcing hundreds of Shiites to take shelter at a sports center.

The police named six other suspects in the case: Saripin, Muhsin, Saniwan, Syahwi, Hadiri and Mat Safi, all of whom are local residents of Omben district, Sampang. (swd)