Jakarta, Indonesia - Police have taken in 48 people believed to be members of an esotoric spiritual movement called "Eden Community" for questioning after their regular hub in central Jakarta was besieged by neighbors.
"We are now questioning 33 people at the Jakarta Police`s State Security Unit (Kamneg) and their status will only be known later today after we have finished the questioning," Jakarta Police` spokesman Senior Commissioner I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said.
He said 15 of the 48 people initially taken to the Komneg office had been set free as they proved not to be members of the group but workers at the group`s center on Jalan Mahoni 30, in Jakarta`s Senen district, which is also the residence of its leader, former television news presenter and handicraft busienssmewoman Lia Aminuddin.
Previously, on Wednesday afternoon , police had taken 48 people from Lia`s house to the Komneg office after Lia`s neighbors had been besieging her house for two consecutive days.
So far, it is unclear what the Eden Communiy is all about or what Lia Aminuddin`s teachings are but her group`s activity raised concern among people living in her neighborhood. Lia was once said to have claimed that she was the Archangel Gabriel and that her son was Jesus Christ.
She named her two-story residence "Kingdom of God."
The Supreme Court once reprimanded her for trying to form an Islamic sect. She is believed to have been promoting her beliefs among other people for more than six years.