30 go on trial for last week's riot in Pekalongan
SEMARANG (JP): Speedy trials are being staged for the 30 people arrested over last Wednesday's riot which targeted ethnic Chinese and left dozens of buildings in Pekalongan damaged.
Pekalongan Police Chief Lt. Col. Triyono told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the trial of 12 suspects began Thursday and the trial of 18 others began Saturday.
He refused to say what they were charged with. Those arrested include eight workers at batik factories in the coastal town who were injured in a scuffle with security officers. He refused to say why the trials were held so soon after the riot, which some say was politically motivated.
The Pekalongan district court was unavailable for comment.
The military has threatened to punish "the mastermind" behind the riot. The chief of the Diponegoro regional military command, Maj. Gen. Soebagyo H.S., told reporters here yesterday that the Armed Forces would take strong action against the rioters.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. R. Hartono said yesterday the riot had not affected political stability. "It's nothing unusual, there's no impact, on a regional or a national level," Hartono was quoted by Antara as saying after attending a gathering of the Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem organization.
He dismissed speculation that the unrest involved political parties. "There's no way the PPP (the United Development Party), Golkar or the PDI (the Indonesian Democratic Party) would allow their supporters to do such a thing," he said.
An estimated 1,000 people vandalized 60 buildings, three houses and a state bank branch and burned two trucks Wednesday in Pekalongan, 300 kilometers east of Jakarta. Most of the property had belonged to ethnic Chinese.
On Monday, a group of people burned down an open air stage erected for a gathering of Golkar leaders and supporters.
The unrest reportedly began after PPP banners were removed from the town's streets and replaced with banners of the dominant Golkar.
A local businessman told The Jakarta Post yesterday that most shops in Buaran district, the center of the riot, remained shut. "It's impossible (to reopen shops now) because many of the shops were damaged."
"Many people are still afraid to stay in the area," he said, adding that several people had fled to downtown Pekalongan.
The owner of an automobile parts shop said Pekalongan was still tense. "We opened our shops for half a day. Even then, we only opened our doors because we're afraid of further vandalism."
But Triyono said the town had returned to normal, everything was under control and shops had reopened. "I did not see anyone fleeing anywhere."
Political observer Dwi Purwoko of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said he believed the riot was triggered by people's disappointment over a political figure jumping ship.
He was referring to singer Rhoma Irama, formerly a supporter of the PPP, who addressed the Golkar gathering in the town as its legislature candidate.
PPP leader for Central Java Harminto Agustono has acknowledged his party's involvement in the riot, saying that some ulemas had propagated teachings pitting one group of PPP supporters against the others.
The ulemas' activities have harmed the PPP, he said, without elaborating.
Harminto alleged there were rights violations against local supporters of the PPP during the unrest, and called on the National Commission on Human Rights to investigate.
Commission chairman Munawir Sjadzali has said he was willing to send a team to check the complaints of those hurt in the unrest, Antara reported. (05/har/swe)