TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Police issued a warning that they will disband all activities held by the United Islamic Front (Front Persatuan Islam or FPI) in all regions since the group which established by former officials of the Islamic Defenders Front–also called FPI (Front Pembela Islam)–has no legal basis.

The Police Head of Public Information Bureau Brig. Gen. Rusdi Hartono said that the police are allowed to disperse the group every time it carries out events in any region given the group’s lack of legality.

“If it is not registered, it means the government has the authority to ban and disband it,” said Rusdi in his office in South Jakarta, Tuesday, Jan. 5.

If the group plans to become a social mass organization, he underlined, it must abide by the existing procedures and rules stipulated in Law on Mass Organizations.

The group’s lawyer Azis Yanuar said the new organization which was established to replace the Islamic Defenders Front would not be registered in the Home Affairs Ministry. Azis argued that the freedom of association or to assemble was guaranteed by the constitution.

The United Islamic Front was declared by several former officials of the FPI after the government banned the group through the issuance of the joint decree inked by six state officials.

Read: FPI Ban Erodes Civil Freedom, Amnesty Indonesia Says

ANDITA RAHMA