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FPI disrupts seminar for victims of Indonesia's 1965 communist purge
Jakarta Globe - February 24, 2015
Members of the Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI, rallied in front of the Central Java Cultural Park in Solo where the seminar was due to take place, claiming the forum was an effort to revive communism, news website Tempo.co reported.
"Do not disrupt the peace in this town," said Khoirul Rus Suparjo, head of FPI's Solo chapter.
The group that organized the event, 1965 Victims' Joint Secretariat, was forced to cancel the seminar to prevent further clashes. Winarso, one of the events' coordinators, said the FPI's protest was unfair and discriminatory. "We, too, have a right to hold this seminar," he said.
The FPI are notorious for its campaigns of violence and intimidation. Members of the group injured 16 police officers with rocks, cow dung and a samurai sword during a violent demonstration against Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama in October last year. The group was protesting Basuki's inauguration, Jakarta's first ethnically Chinese and Protestant governor.
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