Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Boediono on Wednesday ordered National Police Chief General Timur Pradopo to conduct a thorough investigation into the Temanggung incident.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the Vice President Gen Timur Pradopo said he was ordered to solve the case in the most comprehensive way possible.

"If I can summarize the Vice President`s instruction, he demands that the Temanggung incident be settled properly," he said.

Timur further said Vice President Boediono had also asked the national police to strengthen security within Temanggung district and its surrounding areas.

He said the situation in Temanggung had returned to relative normalcy and the authorities had things under control.

The police had so far arrested one suspect identified as MHY, Timur said, adding it had been established that the people involved in Tuesday`s violence had come from outside Temanggung district.

In the Temanggung incident at least two churches and a Catholic school complex as well as a number of vehicles were damaged or vandalized.

The incident itself was believed by the Central Java provincial police to have been provoked by misleading information disseminated among the public through short text messages saying that the defendant in a religious blasphemy case, Antonius Richmond Bawengan (50) would get a light sentence from the Tamanggung district court.

Edward Aritonang said on Tuesday evening that the court`s panel of judges had actually sentenced him to five years in jail.

The two churches, a Catholic school complex as well as a number of vehicles had become the target of mob violence following a clash during the court session on the religious blasphemy case.

In view of the Temanggung incident, Archbishop of Semarang Monsignor Johannes Pujasumarta called on Catholics in the district to remain calm.

"I urge Catholics to remain smart and not to be emotional and take violent acts to respond to violence," he told ANTARA.

Monsignor Johannes Pujasumarta said he deplored the incident as acts of violence to settle problems were not justified in the life of a civilized society.(*)

Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011