Disarm police: Army chief

Disarm police: Army chief

JAKARTA (JP): Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has
called on President Megawati Soekarnoputri and the House of
Representatives to disarm the National Police in enforcing the
law and maintaining security.

"The National Police is not an armed force but a moral force.
Its strength lies not in arms but in its professionalism in
enforcing the law and maintaining security and public order,"
Endriartono said on Wednesday in a hearing with House Commission
I for defense, foreign and political affairs.

The unscheduled hearing was held following a tragic clash
between Army soldiers and police officers in Madiun, East Java,
early this week which claimed three teenagers' lives.

He said the proposed disarming of police should be decided by
the President as the supervisor of the National Police and it
could be executed only after the House made it a law.

He said that Indonesia should learn from the police in the
United Kingdom, where they are not armed.

"Police personnel in the UK are equipped with sticks in their
daily activities but they are highly respected by the public," he
said, citing that all underground activities, including the IRA
separatist movement, were handled by its armed forces.

Endriartono also said the Army would agree that servicemen
violating the criminal code be tried under civilian law instead
of military law, but they must be arrested by Military Police
instead of National Police, to avoid armed contacts.

"We agree if servicemen break a civilian law they are tried in
the civilian court but their arrest should be by Military Police.
Armed contact between law enforcers and soldiers might be
unavoidable if the police go to military barracks to arrest
suspects," he said. (rms)