Army officer detained for assaulting activist<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Aceh military authorities have detained an army officer
\nfor questioning after he allegedly assaulted an anticorruption
\nactivist accused of stealing relief aid from the air force base
\nin Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"As soon as we (the TNI) were informed that one of our
\nofficers had assaulted the activist, we ordered the provost to
\narrest him and put him into Aceh Military Police detention.<\/p>\n
\"The investigation against him will proceed,\" Col. Yani
\nBasuki, spokesman for the Indonesian Military (TNI)'s Aceh
\ndisaster management task force, told The Jakarta Post by phone on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
But he quickly added that Captain Suaib had yet to be named a
\nsuspect.<\/p>\n
The move by the TNI came after President Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono expressed his regrets on Thursday over the attack on
\nFarid Faqih, the director of Government Watch (GOWA), a non-
\ngovernmental organization that had previously vociferously
\ncriticized the government's poor coordination of relief aid in
\nAceh.<\/p>\n
According to Yani, Suaib had been assigned to monitor the
\nmovement of all military supplies and relief aid arriving in
\nBanda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Farid is alleged to have been caught red-handed taking away
\nvarious relief items, such as medical equipment, medicines,
\ncigarettes, and kitchen utensils, donated by the wives of
\nmilitary officers stationed at the Banda Aceh air force base.
\nBefore handing the activist over to the local police, the army
\ncaptain allegedly assaulted Farid, who sustained a black eye,
\nbruising and swelling to his face.<\/p>\n
Farid denied the charge of theft, saying that he was moving
\nthe goods to a warehouse outside Banda Aceh to prevent them from
\nbeing soaked by the rain. He also said that he was assaulted by
\nmore than one soldier.<\/p>\n
But in an interview aired by Metro TV, the commander of the
\nTNI's Aceh disaster management task force, Maj. Gen. Bambang
\nDarmono, said that Suaib was the \"sole perpetrator.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, United Nations officers in Aceh said Farid was a
\npartner in the world body's relief operation in the province.<\/p>\n
Bo Asplund, the United Nations representative in Indonesia,
\nwas quoted by AP on Friday as saying that he believed that Farid
\nhad been wrongly accused and would be released soon.<\/p>\n
Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who also chairs the National
\nDisaster Management and Refugee Coordination Board (Bakornas
\nPBP), said that the assault on Farid was the result of a
\nmisunderstanding and had nothing to do with poor coordination on
\nthe ground.<\/p>\n
\"So much aid has been flooding into to Aceh. It would be very
\neasy to take it just like that. They are supposed to get permits.
\nThis is not about coordination. In fact, if there was no
\ncoordination, Aceh would be even more messed up. But it's not,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on
\nFriday that Farid would be transferred to police headquarters in
\nJakarta for further questioning on the grounds that the law
\nenforcement institutions in devastated Aceh had yet to return to
\nnormal.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/army-officer-detained-for-assaulting-activist-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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