POLICE WARNED NOT TO COMMIT 'CHARACTER ASSASSINATION' AGAINST MUSLIMS

Ambon, Maluku, Aug. 24 (ANTARA) - A local Muslim community figure has reminded the police not to commit "character assassination" against Muslims in monitoring Islamic preaching activity.

"Police are free to monitor (preaching activity), but the mechanism should be in line with the police's existing procedures and based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad SAW (peace be upon him). So that it would not disturb the activity of preachers at mosques and Islamic boarding schools ('pesantren')," Husein Toisuta, chairman of the Maluku organizing committee for Islamic holidays, said here on Monday.

He expressed concern that if the police overreacted in carrying out their duty, it might affect preachings as preachers might be reluctant to present the materials.

"Please make sure that the monitoring is targeted to those suspected to be terrorists, and it must not marginalize Muslims," he said.

Husein Toisuta said his organization has condemned terrorism because it is a criminal action and therefore is not taught at any Islamic boarding school.

He said the police must not relate terrorists with Islamic boarding schools or the schools' graduates, because Muslim preachers never taught criminal actions to their students.

If some of those who had committed terrorism were graduates of 'pesantren', still it should not be generalized, he said.

Earlier, the Indonesian police said that it would conduct an operation called "Condition Creation Operation" aimed at ensuring that the country's Muslims could observe Ramadhan (Fasting month) peacefully and comfortably.

The operation activities included a monitoring of preaching activities in order to minimize preaching which might provoke terrorism.