Ambon MP probe shooting incidents

Ambon MP probe shooting incidents

AMBON, Maluku: Military police investigators from the 16th
Pattimura Regional Military Command have questioned seven
security officers and four civilians in connection with last
Saturday's shooting in the Mardika and Batu Gajah area in which
seven people were killed and 18 others injured.

"In general, they're not really witnesses as they could be
named as suspects," the military police chief Maj. Djuhendi S.
told reporters on Friday.

According to Djuhendi, the seven servicemen came from two
units and were believed to have shot into the crowd without
legitimate reason.

The authorities fired shots at a crowd of locals on a street
in Mardika. The crowd was waiting to be given a torch in a parade
commemorating local independence hero Pattimura. Shots were also
fired in the Batu Gajah area at a group demanding the security
authority investigate the death of Frangky Pitris, a junior high
school student, Antara reported.

The latter group was carrying Pitris' body to the military
command's headquarters to show it to the visiting Army Chief of
Staff Gen. Soebagyo HS, the agency said.

Djuhendi said the shootings by the security personnel on
Saturday violated procedures.

"There was no shooting order at that time. That's why the
military police are now probing the case," he said.

"They've violated the shooting procedures because there had
been no principal threats to fire their guns. Should there be a
threat, the officers have to use rubber or blank bullets. The
latest option is to use live bullets which are aimed at the
thighs or other lower body parts," Djuhendi said.

The only problem faced by the investigators, he said, was the
difficulty collecting the projectiles. Only two of the seven
families of victims allowed the bodies to be examined by the
forensics experts.