Farmers questioned over Lombok clash
Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni and Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Mataram/Jakarta
Police said on Monday they have questioned at least 11 people as witnesses in connection with a bloody clash a day earlier between police and farmers in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said the witnesses, who were questioned by East Nusa Tenggara police, were mostly farmers who attended a conference that turned violent.
"No suspects have been named as yet by the police," Aryanto told the press but added that at least six people may be implicated in sparking Sunday's disturbances.
The clash erupted as local police officers forcibly evicted farmers who were attending the conference on a block of land earmarked for the construction of an airport in Penujab.
Those in attendance included activists from the NTB Farmers Union and members of the international La Via Campesina farmers union, who all rejected the planned building of the airport.
The local police said the meeting was illegal but the participants refused to disperse, arguing that they had obtained a permit to hold the conference from National Police Headquarters.
But the local police said the permit had been revoked for fear that the event could incite a clash between the conference participants and "local residents supporting the new airport".
The police, however, said that no action would be taken against officers who shot dozens of farmers during the clashes in Penujak, Central Lombok.
East Nusa Tenggara Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. H.M. Basri claimed that the shootings were in line with standing procedures.
"These people had been warned that the permit had been revoked so that they had no right to hold the conference. However, they then became violent. Everything we did was in accordance with procedures, although they accuse us of rights violations," Basri said.
"As the participants refused to go home and instead hurled stones at the officers and attacked them with machetes and spears, the officers fired warning shots. When they ignored these, they fired rubber bullets at the protesters," Aryanto said, echoing Basri's comments.
Aryanto claimed that only 15 protesters had been taken to the Central Lombok Hospital for gunshot wounds, and that 46 police officers had also been injured in the clash.
"We also confiscated three machetes, one spear, a lot of stones and also the marquee used for the conference," he added.
However, non-governmental organization activists involved in the event said the number of wounded farmers was at least 27.
The conference was supposed to have ended with the installing of a plaque on the disputed plot of land to mark the farmers' opposition to the airport project.
The land had reportedly been acquired by state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura in 1995.
Late last month, hundreds of farmers held rallies to protest against the scheduled arrival of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the area to attend the ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of the airport's construction.