30 go on trial for last week's riot in Pekalongan

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)