Glodok erupts after raids on pirated VCDs

JAKARTA (JP): Rioting broke out in the capital's predominantly ethnic-Chinese business district of Glodok on Saturday morning after police raided street vendors selling pirated video compact discs (VCDs).

At least four shops in the Harco Glodok electronic goods shopping center and several others along with two automobile showrooms on nearby Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk were set alight and vandalized. Looting was also reported from some of the shops affected.

The incident sparked fear among Jakartans, particularly those of Chinese descent, and reminded them of the riots, arson and looting on the same date at several places in the city, including Glodok, two years ago.

Police announced in the evening that they had detained eight men in connection with the rioting.

Witnesses said that some of the rioters were carrying Molotov cocktails. At least three policemen were injured during the incident.

The busy streets in the area were quickly sealed off by police.

Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said the rioting broke out when angry stall owners in the area resisted a raid conducted at 8 a.m. by a group of officers from the National Police Headquarters.

He gave no further explanation about the raid, but his statement clearly said that the officers conducting it did not report their activity to West Jakarta Police as is required by standard police procedure.

The street vendors then burned their stalls in protest at the raid. A crowd of youths, including teenagers in high school uniforms, later joined in.

The vendors usually sold their merchandise, mostly karaoke, action films and pornographic VCDs, in front of the Harco Glodok building, occupying almost half of the four-lane Jl. Hayam Wuruk. Their choice of location always caused major traffic bottlenecks in the area.

Earlier, witnesses said the raid was actually carried out by Jakarta Public Order officials, not by police officers.

But Jakarta Administration spokesman Muhayat denied the accusation, saying the raid was the police's business.

"We didn't plan nor organize the crackdown. The police didn't even tell us about the operation," he said.

Police spokesman Zainuri said that "the detectives were cracking down on pirated and pornographic VCDs sold by the Glodok street vendors."

The fires lit by the vendors spread to several shops in the Harco Glodok building, which had been renovated after it was set alight by mobs in the May 1998 riots.

The mobs also stoned Caa hardware shop.

A crowd of people then joined the mob to protest the operation and gathered in front of the Glodok Harco building. The people then walked to the nearby Harmoni area.

Along the way, they damaged several shops and broke flower pots. They vandalized the Tunas Toyota and Tunas BMW showrooms and burned several things from both showrooms.

The owners had apparently already moved the cars from the display rooms.

The mob also attacked a McDonald's fast-food outlet in Gadjah Mada Plaza, stoning the windows before ransacking it.

Tenants at the plaza and residents living behind the building tried to protect it from the rioters.

"It's part of our duty to guard the building. If the building is damaged, we may lose our jobs," a resident, Hari, said.

Chief of city police operation control Col. Soenarko said his personnel needed time to reach the scene.

"But we can't say they were late because they needed time to be deployed," he told reporters at the scene.

"We have deployed 700 military and police personnel to curb the riots from spreading to other parts of the city. They are from the National Police Headquarters and from police precincts in central, east and west Jakarta," he added.

He also said the officers were able to stop the rioting from spreading by sealing off Jl. Gadjah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk.

The traffic started to flow normally again at 2 p.m.

Zainuri said some 900 officers were deployed from various units to curb the rioters.

"Police arrested eight people who they suspect provoked others to riot. They were detained at the National Police Headquarters," he said.

"City Police chief Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi has asked National Police chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo to transfer the eight to us to be questioned further," he added.

The riots on Jl. Gadjah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk forced some shop owners, particularly those running their business near the affected area, to temporarily close their shops.

In general, many business centers were open as usual.

At Pasar Baru and Senen shopping complexes in Central Jakarta and even at several business centers in the Mangga Dua area, near the scene of the rioting, shops were open as usual even though their customers were few.

Lela, a staffer at Mal Mangga Dua shopping mall, said that about 50 percent of shop owners had decided to continue trading after the presence of security guards.

"Police trucks are stationed at each of shopping complexes here, at least one for each building," she said.

The rioting was heavily condemned by the public. Some people even believed that the incident might have been masterminded.

"The hundreds of people, where did they come from? They suddenly appeared and ran amok," said legislator Burhan Djabir Magenda.

Separately, officer Zainuri said the police had released all of the six people arrested on Friday in a clash between police officers and angry protesters near the residence of former president Soeharto in the Cendana area, Central Jakarta. (nvn/09/ind)