ABSTRACT
Around the 1999-2000 Ramadan fasting month, a series of brutal attacks and killings occurred in villages in the southern part of the Malang regency. These attacks were a continuation of the killing of alleged sorcerers in East Java – a phenomenon that has claimed hundreds of lives since 1998. This chapter argues that the attacks in South Malang were instances of ‘community justice’, in which local communities banded together to kill supposed sorcerers. This punishment was perceived as the only means to stop the alleged sorcerers practising black magic. Local communities were propelled by a sense that actions against ‘sorcerers’ were part of the reformasi (reform) movement. The state, in the form of the village leadership and police, attempted to curtail the attacks, but had only limited success. The chapter is also concerned to dispel the myths of conspiracy and of the involvement of ‘ninjas’ in the attacks.2
