Fishermen shot dead in Sumba
Fishermen shot dead in Sumba
Yacob Herin, The Jakarta Post, Maumere, Flores
Police officers from East Sumba in East Nusa Tenggara shot
dead four fishermen from Ende island who were using explosives
when fishing in Sumba waters.
Ende district police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Mamboyng confirmed
on Tuesday the incident, saying five other fishermen were
arrested.
They are being interrogated by local police, he told The
Jakarta Post.
East Nusa Tenggara Provincial Police chief Brig. Gen. Jacki
Uly told the press here on Tuesday that the incident occurred
last week when a team of police officers were conducting an
operation to crack down the rampant use of dynamite for fishing
in local waters.
"When the police officers approached them and instructed them
to allow their three vessels to be searched, they resisted and
tried to attack the officers," he was quoted by Antara as saying,
adding that the officers then had no choice but to fire on the
fishermen, killing four of them.
According to Jacki, the police had launched the operation
after receiving tip-offs from the local administration and
residents that a group of about 20 fishermen using three boats
had frequently been fishing in the area using dynamite.
He said that the incident on March 14 had just been reported
by the East Sumba subprecinct to the provincial police in Kupang.
"The local administration and the residents have been very
concerned over the fishermen's actions, which was damaging coral
reefs and other marine species in the area. They have been doing
it for a long time," he noted.
Uly said that after the shooting, one of the boats stopped
while the other two escaped.
The police officers boarded and searched the vessel, named the
Nostalgia and found the bodies of Djafar Husein, 45, and
Djamaludin Husein, 30, who had apparently been shot by the police
during the incident. Five of the vessel's other fishermen, one of
them an escaped convict, were taken to East Sumba Police
subprecinct for questioning.
The police also found a compressor, three bombs to be used in
fishing, two plastic bags containing ammunition, and a ton of
fish on the boat.
Ende Police subprecinct managed to arrest the other two boats
at Ende island two days after the incident. They then found the
bodies of Marden Abdulrachman Bie, 41, and Musa Muhamad, 35, who
were shot by the police in the incident two days before.
Uly said that the police action was in line with standard
procedures as the fishermen had tried to obstruct the officers in
the performance of their duty.