Eight arrested in fresh riot in Pekalongan

Eight arrested in fresh riot in Pekalongan

PEKALONGAN, Central Java (JP): Fresh riots erupted here early
Tuesday when an angry mob attacked the housing complex of local
government officials, police said yesterday.

Pekalongan police chief Col. Solichin told The Jakarta Post
that the riot, the fourth to hit the batik coastal town since
late March, caused minor damage. Eight rioters were arrested.

The unrest, involving hundreds of people believed to be
supporters of the Moslem-oriented United Development Party (PPP),
was quelled by security officers.

One resident said the violence was politically motivated. The
rioting broke out after PPP sympathizers returned home from a
lecture led by four distinguished Islamic religious figures
Tohir, Munarir, Mansyur and Afifudin.

Security personnel said the prayer session was attended by
"thousands" of Moslems and lasted until 2 a.m. without incident.
But the unrest climaxed when rioters began throwing stones at
officials' houses in Bina Griya Indah housing complex.

Police questioned Afifudin for eight and a half hours Tuesday
on suspicion of triggering the unrest. He was accompanied by four
attorneys from the Semarang-based Sultan Agung Islamic
University.

The attorneys requested Central Java police limit the
questioning so as not to affect Afifudin's health.

Winarto, one of the suspect's lawyers, said Afifudin was
required to answer 28 questions referring to upsetting the public
and unflattering portrayals of other Moslem religious leaders,
election committee members and the government.

Pekalongan, 300 kilometers east of Jakarta, has been
continually hit by riots since March 26. The unrest was sparked
by pop singer Rhoma Irama's change of party allegiance from PPP
to Golkar and the replacement of PPP banners with Golkar's in the
town.

The removal led people to burn the stage for Rhoma Irama's
concert, which would be attended by President Soeharto's eldest
daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.

The incident escalated to a mob of 1,000 people burning and
damaging property and 60 buildings belonging mainly to ethnic
Chinese. Eight people were injured in scuffles with security
personnel.

Thirty people have been sentenced to jail from three days to
three months for their involvement in the March 26 riot.

Meanwhile, in Surakarta (Solo), police broke up a street rally
by supporters of ousted Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri, but denied arresting any
protesters.

A Jakarta Post reporter saw police officers club PDI activists
and throw three motorcycles onto a patrol truck.

Megawati, who was in town to attend the wedding of one of her
loyalists' relatives, said she was appalled by the continuing
harassment of her supporters.

Separately, two senior members of the National Commission on
Human Rights have urged police in Central Java to use restraint
in handling unrest in the region.

The commission's Secretary-General Baharuddin Lopa and his
colleague Maj. Gen. (ret.) Soegiri said yesterday that the police
should not become trigger-happy in using rubber bullets against
the rioters.

The two commission members yesterday visited the riot-stricken
area on a fact-finding mission, Antara reported. (har/bsr/01)