REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MAKASSAR -- Police have called upon the people to uphold the principle of presumption of innocence while dealing with the Gafatar organization.

"This is a new organization and a thorough investigation is needed about it. We must be careful while taking action and must put forward the principle of presumption of innocence," deputy chief of crime investigation of the National Police Command, Inspector General Syahrul Mamma, said here on Wednesday.

He said the organization that has spread from one region to another across the country has indeed triggered certain concerns with some considering it as heretic.

However, before any such motive is confirmed, the people must not take the law into their hands or attack its followers, he said.

"Refer any such thing to the police. Let the police conduct further investigation. All information about the Gafatar movement will be reported to the National Police Headquarters for further investigation," he said.

Regarding violations that Gafatar followers may have made, he admitted that it was a new case.

He said if as a result of police investigations, it is later discovered that the organization poses a threat across the country, the police would inform the public about the same in a transparent fashion.

"This case is a new one and the process of investigation is still ongoing. Later, we will make it known transparently to the public when the investigation reaches conclusion," he said.

Regarding the situation in South Sulawesi, the former chief of the Southwest Sulawesi regional police command said he had not received any report about Gafatar from the South Sulawesi regional police command.

"I have not received any report about Gafatar in South Sulawesi. We will coordinate again with the South Sulawesi command about it," he said.

Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo on Wednesday instructed all regional governments to monitor the activities of Gafatar as well as other organizations that disturb the public's peace of mind.

"I ask the offices of the Directorate General of Politics and General Administration across various regions in the country, right from provinces to districts and towns, to closely monitor Gafatar and other mass organizations for any suspected activity," he said.

He said the recruitment of adult community members who abandoned their families has disturbed the public's peace of mind.

"This is disturbing if they go without even saying a word (to their close ones) to follow an ideology which is against legitimate teachings," he said.

The politics and general administration service of the Bantul district in Yogyakarta, Central Java, confirmed that Gafatar had registered itself with its office in November 2011.

Its activities included social services such as volunteer work and cleaning up in neighborhood areas.

"Initially, it did not betray any suspicious activity, let alone recruiting people as has recently happened," the head of the office, Sumasriana said.

He said, however, that since 2015, the organization remained inactive after its official website, gafatar.org, was not updated.

"I heard that the organization had asked for a meeting with village head, sub-district head and SKPD (regional working unit) in Bantul but this was rejected, and based on my monitoring starting in June 2015, Gafatar was no longer active," he said.

He said Gafatar had established a secretariat in Bangunjiwo, Bantul, in 2011 but, in 2012, he received a circular from the Ministry of Home Affairs not to respond to Gafatar.

Since then, Gafatar has been facing difficulties in finding a location for its secretariat.

"According to latest information, it wanted to set up a secretariat in Sewon but people there also rejected it. So, since 2012, there has been no secretariat in existence," he said.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has stated that any movement which deviates from true teachings, such as the Fajar Nusantara Movement (Gatafar), must be banned.

"Of course, all movements which deviate from true teachings must be prohibited. The public prosecutor's offices have rules in this regard," he said here on Wednesday.

Kalla said he had little knowledge about Gatafar, but if the movement deviates from widely-held beliefs in the community and is linked to the disappearance of many people, it must be prohibited.

Gatafar was launched at the JIEXPO Building in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on January 21, 2012 in an effort to confirm that the organization led by Mahful M. Tumanurung exists.

The development has caused public unrest following the disappearance of several people who are believed to have joined the organization.

The movement has so far been engaged in various social activities, including blood donation campaigns held in cooperation with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI).

The vice president, who is also the chief of the PMI, said not all people who cooperate with the PMI can escape the long arm of the law.

"Blood donation campaigns are good, but this does not mean that those cooperating with the PMI are within the ambit of the law," he said.

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