Police attack anti-regent protesters<\/p>\n
Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Tenggarong<\/p>\n
Police officers violently broke up a picket inside the Kutai
\nKartanegara regental administration compound here on Wednesday,
\nbeating several picketers who were camping out to protest the
\nappointment of an acting regent.<\/p>\n
Seven picketers were hurt in the incident with at least one
\nhospitalized for serious injuries. The police arrested 50 others
\nfor questioning but later released them.<\/p>\n
Witnesses described the incident as an ambush that took place
\nat about 7 a.m., when some 200 protesters held a sit-in protest
\ninside the Kutai administration office's compound in Tenggarong,
\nsome 30 kilometers from Samarinda in East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
\"Police stormed the tents where the protesters were staying
\nfor shelter, and beat and kicked them and drove them out,\"
\nwitness and protest coordinator Winarno Saputro said.<\/p>\n
Supriyadi, 18, a victim of the attack, said he was among those
\nbeaten and kicked, although he had nothing to with the
\ndemonstrators.<\/p>\n
He said he was asked by a protest leader to install a sound
\nsystem during the protest: \"The police ignored my appeals (to
\nthem) and attacked me instead\".<\/p>\n
\"I had cried out that I was not a demonstrator but the police
\nstill beat me. I couldn't do anything and was later taken to
\nhospital,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Kutai Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Supriyanto denied the
\nincident was an attack on demonstrators opposed to the swearing-
\nin of Awang Darma Bhakti as acting regent of Kutai.<\/p>\n
He played the incident down as a \"minor event\", and firm
\naction taken by his subordinates to protect state assets.<\/p>\n
Before the incident, he said, protesters had prevented the
\npolice from entering the office compound to provide security
\nthere. \"This condition forced the police to take action,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He also claimed that the police had found liquor bottles near
\nthe tents.<\/p>\n
\"This also sparked a friction among them. The incident was not
\naimed to take over the area from the control of the masses, but
\nto prevent possible security disturbances,\" Suprianto said.<\/p>\n
He said the police wanted Kutai to remain secure but were not
\nopposed to demonstrations. \"We want the protesters to abide by
\nexisting (legal) mechanisms and not to disadvantage themselves.\"
\nHe did not elaborate further.<\/p>\n
The protest that began on Dec. 13, originally involved
\nthousands of people, who had turned out to object to Awang
\nreplacing former Kutai regent Syaukani HR who ended his five-year
\nterm earlier this month.<\/p>\n
The protesters said the move by the central government to
\nreplace Syaukani was politically motivated and demanded his term
\nbe extended until a new regent was directly elected in June next
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Since then, a group had picketed the local administration
\nbuilding, paralyzing work there.<\/p>\n
All offices inside the building had been locked and guarded by
\npolice officers during the picket and local body officials had
\nremained at home.<\/p>\n
Syaukani's reappointment was backed by his own council, which
\nvoted his term be extended.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-attack-anti-regent-protesters-1447893297",
"image": ""
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