Nine named suspects over Saturday's rioting in Painan<\/p>\n
Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang<\/p>\n
Police have declared nine people suspects in Saturday's rioting
\nthat followed a protest over the inauguration of Pesisir Selatan
\nRegent Nasrul Abit and his deputy Syafrizal.<\/p>\n
West Sumatra Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Akmil said on
\nSunday that local police had questioned 20 people involved in the
\nprotest, including several high school students.<\/p>\n
It was the second violent protest against the results of a
\ndirect regional election after an incident in the Bengkulu town
\nof Kaur two months ago.<\/p>\n
Police opened fire on the protesters on Saturday, wounding two
\nof them who have also been named suspects in the incident.<\/p>\n
The suspects were identified as Muspija, 46, Afrizal, 47,
\nAmar, 48, Nofriki, 24, Mike Putra Effendi, 24, Andi, 22 and
\nFahmi, 17.<\/p>\n
"I forget the other two," Akmil said.<\/p>\n
Andi and Fahmi were treated in M. Zain General Hospital, due
\nto gunshot wounds.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people staged a protest on Saturday and felled
\ntrees to set up roadblocks on the access road to the provincial
\ncapital of Padang from the regental capital of Painan on the
\nnorthern coast. Children, students and housewives also joined the
\nprotest.<\/p>\n
The roadblocks were aimed at preventing newly installed
\nGovernor Gamawan Fauzi from visiting Painan to inaugurate the
\nreelected regent. Painan is located some 30 kilometers south of
\nPadang.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of vehicles were forced to turn back, and Gamawan and
\nhis entourage finally reached Painan by boat.<\/p>\n
Most of the protesters were residents of Tarusan, who voted
\nfor candidates M. Yusril and Bakri Bakar, who lost by a narrow
\nmargin of 1,196 votes to the pair of Nasrul and Syafrizal.<\/p>\n
The Yusril-Bakri ticket challenged the election result last
\nmonth as they found indications of fraud in the poll -- including
\nthe number of voters, which exceeded the registered number, and
\nfindings of underage voters and multiple perforation.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, however, was overturned by the West Sumatra High
\nCourt. The Pesisir Selatan Election Commission then declared
\nNasrul and Syafrizal, who were nominated by a coalition of
\nIslamic parties, the winners with 72,738 votes.<\/p>\n
A clash occurred on Saturday as the crowd tried to resist
\nhundreds of police officers who came to clear the roadblocks.<\/p>\n
People threw stones and other objects at the officers,
\ninjuring four of them. Protesters also took a police detective,
\nBrig. David, hostage, beating him before his release.<\/p>\n
Police fired rubber bullets at the angry crowd, injuring at
\nleast three people.<\/p>\n
M. Akmil defended the tough measures, which he said were in
\nline with procedures.<\/p>\n
"We opened fire to save the officer who was taken hostage," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Despite the riot, however, the inauguration ceremony of the
\nreelected regent and his deputy continued undisturbed at the
\nZaini Zein Sports Center in Painan.<\/p>\n
A clash over a regional election result erupted in Kaur
\nregency in another part of Sumatra Island in July, as thousands
\nof people attacked and set fire to the house of the local
\nlegislature's council speaker, the regent's office, the local
\noffice of the General Elections Commission and the office of the
\npublic housing agency.<\/p>\n
The angry mob suspected that the victory of incumbent Regent
\nSyaukani Saleh and his deputy Warman Suwardi was marred by
\nvote-buying.<\/p>\n
The protest turned violent when no official was willing to
\naddress the crowd.<\/p>\n
Police named four people, including one of the losing
\ncandidates, suspects. They are still under detention pending the
\ncompletion of the police's investigation into the case.<\/p>",
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