SINGAPORE, November 27. /TASS/. The Indonesian police report - among the detained during the mass anti-government rally on November 4 at least nine people are connected with the Islamic State terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia), The Jakarta Post wrote on Sunday.
"National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar claimed the nine were believed to have involved themselves in the rally to make it descent into chaos. "They intended to grab police guns during the rally, but failed since the officers were not equipped with guns," Boy said on Saturday as reported by kompas.com.," the newspaper writes. "The rally in front of the State Palace in Jakarta, during which protesters demanded the government to prosecute Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy, ended in violence when two police cars were set on fire."
"Boy said the nine people were identified as Saulihun alias Abu Musaibah, Alwandi alias Aseng, Reno Suharsono, Dimas Adi Syahputra, Wahyu Widada, Ibnu Aji Maulana, Fuad alias Abu Ibrohim, Zubair and Agus Setiawan. Saulihun had reportedly been active in recruiting Indonesians to join IS in Syria, while Reno allegedly picked up those who returned from the conflict area in the Middle East," Jakarta Post writes. "The remaining seven members were allegedly involved in training volunteers who wanted to join the group, Boy claimed."
The mass protest rally against the capital city’s governor features at least 100,000 participants, who demanded he resigned after the statements, which insulted the Muslims. The rally, which initially was quite peaceful, developed into clashes with the police, who had to use teargas and water guns to restore the order. About 350 people got injured, official sources said.
However, before the rally, head of the National Police General Tito Karnavian warned IS supporters might participate in the event. He said, the police had information on them, though were not sure whether they were planning any provocations during the rally.