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)