JP/5/cock

Balinese riot after police raid cockfight

Wahyoe Boediwardhana The Jakarta Post Denpasar, Bali

Hundreds of members of the Desa Adat (traditional customary village) Yangbatu in downtown Denpasar, Bali, barricaded the main road near their village on Friday afternoon to vent their anger over a police raid on a cockfight held in a temple.

Claiming that the police officers had not only used excessive force in the raid but also desecrated the temple through violence, the protesters felled several trees and used them as roadblocks on Jl. Letda Tantular. They also burned tires.

Almost 100 riot police launched a raid on the cockfight at around 12:35 p.m., some two hours after the fight began. It was led by Comr. Agus Sugianto of the Denpasar Police.

The cockfight was conducted in an open hall in the outer yard of Yangbatu's Dalem Temple. The hall is a regular venue for this popular gambling activity locally known as Tajen.

"Without prior warning, the police fired three shots before storming into the hall, screaming loudly while beating and kicking everybody," an unnamed eyewitness said.

The ensuing violence reportedly injured dozens of gamblers. One of them was identified as Made Suryana, who sustained multiple fractures to the neck and right arm.

Some spectators accused the police of taking advantage of the raid by seizing the gamblers' money and cellular phones.

One villager managed to scale the temple's tower and sound the alarm or kulkul, triggering members of three other different banjar (traditional neighborhoods) in the vicinity of the temple to leave their homes.

In no time at all, hundreds of villagers surrounded the temple and started throwing stones at police officers. Frightened by the villagers' response, the police jumped onto their vehicles and hurriedly left the scene with at least 28 confiscated cocks.

Later village chief Made Sura and four truckloads of villagers visited the Denpasar Police Headquarters to demand an explanation from its chief Sr. Comr. Komang Udayana.

Udayana admitted ordering the raid, arguing that the cockfight was held for gambling purposes, instead of a religious ritual.

"My officers took them (the cellular phones and money), so we would have evidence of the gambling," he said.

However, he promised to help cover the medical costs of those injured in the clash.

Certain Balinese Hindu ceremonies require a blood sacrifice obtained by conducting a ritualistic cockfight known as Tabuh Rah. However, local gamblers often reportedly use the ritual as a pretext to organize a a large-scale cockfight called Tajen.

"Our temple has already been desecrated by the violence. Human blood has violated its sanctity. Who will be responsible to conduct the necessary purification ceremonies?," Sura asked.

Cockfighting is illegal in Indonesia but many people in the provinces of Bali, Papua, Maluku and several other eastern areas often hold such matches as part of their tradition.