Thirty jailed for Pekalongan riots<\/p>\n
PEKALONGAN, Central Java (JP): The Pekalongan district court
\nsentenced 30 people yesterday to between three days and three
\nmonths imprisonment for their involvement in riots here last
\nweek.<\/p>\n
The rioters also received probations of three to four months
\nfor disrupting public order.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Jumadi sentenced 18 of them to three days jail
\nand three months probation, less than what the prosecution had
\ndemanded for violations of Article 503 of Criminal Code
\nProcedures. The other 12 were sentenced to three months jail and
\nfour months probation for disrupting public order and resisting
\narrest.<\/p>\n
About 1,000 people rampaged here last Wednesday, vandalizing
\nshops and property belonging to local Chinese.<\/p>\n
The violence reportedly began after supporters of the United
\nDevelopment Party (PPP) were enraged when the local authorities
\nremoved their party's banners and replaced them with a stage and
\nbanners for Golkar.<\/p>\n
Eight people were injured in scuffles with security personnel
\nand were taken to hospital. The eight were among the 30 tried
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The Pekalongan police precinct said no one else had been
\ncharged over the riot.<\/p>\n
The chief of the PPP's Central Java chapter, Karmani protested
\nthe court's \"hasty decision\". And charged that some of those
\nsentenced yesterday had not been arrested in the riot, but while
\nsaying a dawn prayer.<\/p>\n
\"The PPP will not take this lying down,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The PPP chapter accused local ulemas of inciting the unrest
\nthrough their sermons which hurt the party's image. Local lawyer
\nJawade Hafidz has accused ulema Afiffuddin Musytari Hambali Al-
\nHafidz of producing tapes of sermons inciting people to riot.<\/p>\n
Afiffuddin was questioned by police yesterday, but denied the
\nallegation. He has challenged Jawade to prove that his sermons
\nincited the riot.<\/p>\n
Central Java Police Chief Col. Nurdin Umar said Afiffuddin was
\ninvited, not summonsed, to explain the political overtones of his
\nlectures.<\/p>\n
\"We asked him for some background on his activities,\" Nurdin
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The riots in the batik-producing coastal town of Pekalongan,
\nabout 300 kilometers east of Jakarta, left about 60 buildings
\ndamaged.<\/p>\n
It is believed that rioters were also upset because popular
\ndangdut singer Rhoma Irama had abandoned the PPP for Golkar.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Baharuddin Lopa of the National Commission on
\nHuman Rights said the commission would send a fact-finding team
\nto Pekalongan.<\/p>\n
\"We'll try to find out what caused the riots so that we can
\nmake recommendations,\" the secretary-general of the commission
\nsaid. He added that he believed socioeconomic disparity had
\ncontributed to unrest in Pekalongan. (har\/01\/05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thirty-jailed-for-pekalongan-riots-1447893297",
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