25 quizzed over attack in S. Sulawesi

25 quizzed over attack in S. Sulawesi

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post/Makassar

The Wirabuana Military Command is still questioning 25 soldiers
accused of being responsible for attacking and looting houses in
a remote subdistrict in South Sulawesi at dawn on Tuesday.

"Some ninety of them have been questioned and of the 90, we
are still questioning 25. We believe these 25 were directly
involved in the attack," said Maj. Gen. Arief Budi Sampurno, the
chief of the Wirabuana Military Command, which oversees military
affairs in South Sulawesi province.

The two-star general said that if found guilty, they would
face various punishments, of which the most lenient were
administrative sanctions, such as deferred promotion, while the
harshest punishment was dishonorable discharge.

There was also a possibility that the soldiers involved would
face criminal prosecution in the local district court, he said.

Arief again apologized for the attack, saying it was
intolerable.

"Although they had strong reasons, the attack was wrong. They
are trained to attack the enemies of the state and not the people," said
Arief.

During a media conference, Arief also urged the police to
identify the civilians believed to have attacked First Pvt.
Haerudin after a traffic accident in Banri Manurung subdistrict,
Jeneponto regency, South Sulawesi. It has been reported that it
was this attack that spurred the soldiers to launch an all-out
assault of civilian property.

The general rejected reports that soldiers had gone on an orgy
of looting, including stealing 17 sacks of rice earmarked for the
poor that were stored in a house in the subdistrict. The Army did
not suffer from a shortage of food, he argued. He added that the
Wirabuana Military Command had sent troops into the affected
subdistricts to repair the houses wrecked in the early morning
attack.

According to information supplied by the military, 52 houses
were damaged in the attack. However, the local governments say 82
houses were wrecked in a number of hamlets in Banri Manurung
village, some 80 kilometers south of Makassar city, where the
Wirabuana Military Command is based. Besides damage to property,
five residents and a police officer were injured in the
pandemonium.

The incident has dealt a major blow to the prestige of the
Indonesian Military (TNI), which has been trying hard to restore
its battered image. The military has long been the target of
public criticism for its poor human rights record.