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The chief editor of a media group that runs a hardline Islamic Web site said on Monday that the site would reopen after being brought down by excessive visitors following a police raid and allegations that a founder of the site was linked with the Jakarta bombings.

Muhammad Fachry, the chief editor of Arramah Media, said that their Web site was currently being repaired following a surge of visitors.

“We will possibly reopen Arrahmah.com this week,” he said at his office in Bintaro, Tangerang, on Monday. “Office activities will resume within a month, now we are still cleaning and rearranging the office.”

The Arrahmah office was ransacked and sealed by the police last week, after the police named Fachry’s brother, Mohamad Jibril, as a new terror suspect linked to the July 17 hotel bombings in the capital.

Fachry claimed the arrest of his brother, who was also a founder of Arrahmah, had not affected the media company’s performance.

“Our employees are loyal. The arrest [of Mohamad Jibril] did not scare them or persuade them to resign,” he said.

Following the arrest, Fachry said he had received a lot of support from domestic and international Muslim media communities.

“We have people’s support and we are doing all we can to strengthen and improve our network,” he said.

On Tuesday, the National Police will announce Mohamad Jibril’s status after a seven-day investigation.

Jibril was arrested last week in Pamulang, Tangerang.

His family requested a South Jakarta court to declare the arrest as illegal. Jibri’ls lawyer, Munarman, said that the arrest was carried out without an official notification from the police, whereas according to law, the police must present a notification before arresting a suspect, unless the suspect is caught in action.


Samuel/JG