Surprise attack on striking workers leaves one dead<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of workers of car upholstery producer
\nPT Kadera AR Indonesia in Pulogadung industrial estate were
\nattacked while on strike in the early hours of Thursday, leaving
\none dead and 11 injured.<\/p>\n
The workers, who had camped inside the factory since the
\nstrike took effect on March 19, were asleep when around 500
\nunidentified people, armed with machetes, swords and homemade
\nbombs, arrived on buses and started to attack.<\/p>\n
East Jakarta Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Agus
\nIrianto identified the dead worker as Kimun Effendi, 21, a
\nresident of Jl. Kedondong II in Kranji, Bekasi.<\/p>\n
Agus said that Kimun could have died from blast wounds, caused
\nby a homemade explosive thrown at the striking workers during the
\nattack.<\/p>\n
\"We suspect the attack was conducted by workers of the same
\nfactory who opposed the strike, plus hoodlums who were hired by
\nthe factory to intimidate the protesters. This is only a
\nsuspicion however. We have yet to question the company director,\"
\nsaid Agus.<\/p>\n
One of the striking workers, Supriyadi, told The Jakarta Post
\nthe dawn attack was aimed at forcing him and his colleagues to
\nabandon the factory's main plant.<\/p>\n
He said some 600 workers of the factory, owned by a Japanese
\ninvestment company, had been on strike since March 19, demanding
\na 100 percent salary-hike.<\/p>\n
The strike brought production activities to a complete halt.<\/p>\n
\"About 400 of us were sleeping in the factory's grounds...
\nwhen an unidentified group of people suddenly arrived at the
\nfactory at about 2 a.m on about 10 buses,\" Supriyadi said at
\nCipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, where one of his injured friends was
\nreceiving medical care.<\/p>\n
He said the striking workers camped in the factory at night,
\nand staged their protest during the day.<\/p>\n
\"They brandished machetes and samurai swords and their
\nscreaming woke us up. They ordered us to leave the factory and
\nhalt the strike,\" Supriyadi recalled.<\/p>\n
\"We resisted their attack by hosing them with water. But
\nbefore leaving, the attackers threw an explosive at us.\"<\/p>\n
Kimun died five minutes after he arrived at the Pondok Kopi
\nHospital in East Jakarta. One of the injured victims, Rachmat
\nHidayat, 22, was transferred to Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital
\n(RSCM) in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Another wounded worker was admitted to Abdul Salim Hospital in
\nEast Jakarta.<\/p>\n
While Rachmat was undergoing a second operation to cure his
\nbroken thigh bone at RSCM, Kimun's brother, Kamaludin, carried
\nhis sibling's corpse away before a postmortem was performed.<\/p>\n
Kamaludin accused a group, paid by the company to intimidate
\nthe striking workers, of killing his brother.<\/p>\n
A member of staff at the company said the director of PT
\nKadera was not available. The firm's vice president, Rulichi
\nSujatim, could not be reached for comment either.<\/p>\n
East Jakarta Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Agus said
\none of the company's directors would face questioning in
\nconnection with the attack.<\/p>\n
\"We are scheduled to question the director of the factory. We
\nare currently questioning a factory employee on the matter,\" Agus
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He admitted that only a few police officers were present
\nduring the raid, and that they were grossly outnumbered.<\/p>\n
\"Most of our officers were deployed in the Matraman area where
\na number of brawls have taken place over the past two days, and
\nthe Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta, which still needs
\nproper police security in case prisoners go on the rampage
\nagain,\" Agus said.<\/p>\n
In a separate development, city police spokesman Sr. Comr.
\nAnton Bahrul Alam said on Thursday that some 31 middle-ranking
\npolice officers across Greater Jakarta, were receiving special
\ntraining in dealing with crowds, should protests turn violent.<\/p>\n
\"A number of officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
\n(FBI) have recently arrived and are currently training our
\nGreater Jakarta police officers, for better handling of violent
\nprotests,\" Anton said, adding that the training would last until
\nthe second week of April. (ylt\/01)<\/p>",
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