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'Indonesia Without the FPI' action avoids confrontation with FPI

Detik News - February 14, 2012

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M. Arif, Jakarta – A peaceful action called "Indonesia Without the FPI" that is currently being held at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle will soon move off to the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) office on nearby Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta.

"We want to move to YLBHI because there is news that the FPI (Islamic Defenders Front) will arrive", said action coordinator Vivi Widyawati at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Tuesday February 14 at 4.30pm.

According to Widyawati, the Indonesia Without the FPI protesters wish to avoid a confrontation should the FPI turn up. The police have been unable to guarantee security if protesters who oppose the action arrive.

The peaceful action Indonesia Without the FPI was held by around 60 people. Their numbers were less than the number of journalists covering the event, people watching the action and security personnel on guard.

The protesters are demanding that the government provide a sense of security and protect society from violence. The demonstrators came from a number of different organisations, including among others the Indonesian Transsexuals Communication Forum (FKWI).

During the action they sang the national anthem Indonesia Raya and brought a variety of posters. The messages on the posters read, among other things, "A Valentines Day gif for Habib Razieq" (the head of the FPI), "An Indonesia without the FPI" and "An Indonesia without Violence".

As a result of the demonstration, the flow of traffic from Jl. Thamrin in the direction of Jl. Sudirman became congested. Traffic in the opposite direction meanwhile continued to flow smoothly and the Trans Jakarta busway was not affected.

New from the FPI headquarters meanwhile was that the FPI will not be holding a counter action in response to the peaceful action held by their opponents. (nik/nrl)

[Massa 'Indonesia Tanpa FPI' akan Geser ke YLBHI - detikNews. Selasa, 14/02/2012. Translated by James Balowski.]

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