Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Sat, May 26, 2012
Archive Search

Cleric in Child Bride Case Caught in Violent Arrest
Farouk Arnaz& Putri Prameshwari | July 15, 2009

Share This Page
0
0
0
0
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

Be the first to write your opinion!

Officers in Central Java will be investigated for alleged police brutality during the dramatic arrest of a Muslim cleric who married a 12-year-old girl last year, the National Police in Jakarta said on Wednesday.

Pujiono, also known as Syekh Puji, was arrested by Central Java Police in Semarang on Tuesday night after failing to report to the police.

Hundreds of supporters attempted to prevent the cleric’s arrest by blocking three police cars. Metro TV footage showed police dragging Pujiono into a moving police car.

The cleric was detained earlier this year and charged with violating the Child Protection Law in connection with his marriage to the girl. He was released pending trial, but was required to check in with police every week.

Insp. Gen. Oegroseno, the head of the National Police’s Internal Affairs division, condemned the actions of the officers in Semarang. “I’ve seen the television footage,” he said. “They did not have to do that.”

Oegroseno said he had ordered the Central Java Police and the National Police to begin separate investigations. “They should have acted more professionally,” he said. “I am sorry this happened.”

Pujiono, an independently wealthy handicraft exporter, sparked public outrage after he took a 12-year-old girl as his second wife last August.

Critics accused the cleric of practicing legalized pedophilia, but he said the marriage was valid under Islamic law.

Central Java Police Chief Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said Pujiono would remain in detention until his trial started.

“We arrested him so his case will be finished sooner,” he told state-run Antara news agency. “He failed to report to the police and that is why we arrested him.”

Pujiono’s lawyer, Novel Al Bakri, said the police had overreacted. “If the police wanted him to come to headquarters, he would have obeyed,” he said. “There was no need to arrest him by force.”

Novel told the Jakarta Globe that the girl’s father, Suroso, was arrested in Semarang at 1 a.m. on Wednesday. Police suspect that Suroso effectively sold his daughter into marriage.

However, Novel defended the marriage between his client and the 12-year-old girl.

“[She] has menstruated, which means she’s an adult who can think for herself. She has never filed a complaint with the police. She is happy with her husband, but now her husband has been arrested,” he said. “So tell me, who’s the victim here?”