Muhammadiyah Urges ACT's Institution To Be Freed Immediately

ACT Foundation. (Antara-Indrianto Eko Suwarso)

JAKARTA - General Chairman of PP Pemuda Muhammadiyah Sunanto urged that the Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) institution be immediately frozen. Until now, the DKI Provincial Government has not revoked the permit for ACT's operational activities. Meanwhile, the permit for collecting money and goods (PUB) has been revoked by the Ministry of Social Affairs.

"If it is proven that it is used for purposes that are not in accordance with that, it can be investigated and the fundraising stopped. Not only the fundraising, but also the institutional freeze," Sunanto told reporters, Sunday, July 31.

Sunanto highlighted the alleged flow of ACT funds to terrorism groups. From the legal process that is still ongoing, Sunanto said that donations misappropriated by ACT officials could later be returned to the state or given to a credible institution.

"To be returned to the government or given to NGOs that have credibility or can be accounted for," he said.

In addition, the Secretary of the Central Executive Board (PP) Muhammadiyah Abdul Mu'ti assessed that the steps taken by the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Police to investigate allegations of misappropriation of people's donations by the ACT institution were correct.

"The aspect that is currently being handled by the police is related to the use of funds that are not in accordance with the allocation and reporting that is not in accordance with the realization. In this aspect, I think the police's actions can be justified," said Mu'ti.

Previously, the Criminal Investigation Department had named four suspects for misappropriating ACT donations. They are the founder and former President of ACT Ahyudin, current President of ACT Ibnu Khajar, ACT supervisor Hariyana Hermain, and Chairman of ACT's Board of Trustees Novariadi Imam Akbari.

Investigators decided to detain the four suspects because they feared they would destroy evidence related to this case. The four suspects were also detained by Bareskrim investigators on Friday, July 29. The detention was carried out after completing the case process.

Meanwhile, until now the DKI Provincial Government has not revoked ACT's operational activity permit even though the suspect has been named. The reason is that they are still conducting a review of the ongoing legal case.