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Twelve men will face trial over the burning down of a mosque belonging to the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect. -- PHOTO: AP
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JAKARTA - TWELVE men will face trial over the burning down of a mosque belonging to a minority Islamic sect that has been branded as 'deviant' by Indonesian religious authorities, police said on Friday.
Seven more men were named as suspects over a midnight mob attack Sunday on a mosque belonging to the Ahmadiyah sect in West Java's Sukabumi district, local police chief Guntor Gaffar said.
He said that all 12 could face jail sentences of up to nine years over the attack.
An inter-departmental team which monitors religious groups earlier this month recommended the government ban Ahmadiyah due to its unorthodox beliefs.
The group believes Mohammad was not the final prophet, contradicting a central tenet of Islam.
Mr Gaffar said he had called on Ahmadiyah followers in the area to refrain from practising their religion in the open so as to not provoke further attacks.
The sect closed another mosque in West Java in a bid to prevent violence, the Jakarta Post daily reported on Friday. -- AFP
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