Madiun Police chief discharged over clash

By Tarko Sudiarno

MADIUN, East Java (JP): Madiun Police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eddy Hariyanto was discharged on Thursday in a brief and modest ceremony, following last week's deadly clash which claimed three lives.

The ceremony was led by the police chief of Madiun and its surrounding regencies, Sr. Comr. Saputro Satriyo, who appointed Adj. Sr. Comr. Ketut Argawa as acting chief of Madiun Police precinct.

Sr. Comr. Saputro said after the ceremony that he was only carrying out the East Java Police chief's instructions (to preside over the ceremony). "I'm not able to comment on the discharge of Eddy."

"What is more important is finding the best way to create a peaceful situation after the clash between Army and police members. While waiting for the results of the investigation, let's try and keep a calm situation among the people."

The Madiun Police precinct's jurisdiction covers only the mayoralty, while Saputro deals with Madiun and its surrounding areas, including the regencies of Magetan, Ngawi, Ponorogo and Pacitan.

Last Saturday hundreds of members of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Airborne Infantry Battalion 501 attacked the Madiun Police station and three other police stations.

Three teenagers were shot dead in the clash, and several policemen and Army personnel were injured.

The clash started with a small dispute between the members of the two institutions at a gas station.

Kostrad chief Lt. Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu discharged on Monday the chief of Infantry Battalion 501, his deputy and 11 battalion members.

Both the police and the Army claim they do not know who fired the first shot, while no one has explained how the three students were shot during the incident.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto told the House of Representatives (DPR) hearing on Wednesday that it was the police who shot the civilians.

Outgoing Madiun Police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eddy Hariyanto said after the ceremony on Thursday that the police needed reliable eyewitnesses who knew what really happened on Saturday.

"We have a key witness, but he is now being treated at the Police Hospital in Kediri for serious injuries," he said. Kediri is located some 80 kilometers east of Madiun.

"The officer was mobbed, beaten black and blue and then taken to Infantry Battalion 501. He was also beaten up at the battalion. We are waiting until he has fully recovered," he said.

Another source said that a police officer, on his way to the station from monitoring the fire which gutted part of state-owned radio station RRI, was held by a group of Army members on Saturday night. He was beaten and "dumped" in Caruban, a regency some 30 kilometers east of Madiun, while his handgun was allegedly stolen by Army members.

Observers said that the replacement of Sr. Comr. Eddy was due to constant pressure from Madiun students, who marched on Thursday through several parts of town, demanding that the deaths of their peers be investigated thoroughly.

Eddy said he and his family wholeheartedly accepted his discharge. "Legally, I am responsible to what my subordinates have done. But for your information, I was in Yogyakarta with Sr. Comr. Saputro Satriyo for a wedding reception when the violence broke out on Saturday."

When asked if he was a scapegoat in the incident, he said "those are your words and not mine".

Life in Madiun was back to normal on Thursday despite the town being quieter on Wednesday night than it was before the incident.

Meanwhile, public services at Madiun Police station have been slow in returning to normal. "The process of issuing drivers' licenses has been disrupted, and much of the equipment at the hospital was destroyed during the attack," a policewoman said.

She said most of the documents at the buildings destroyed during the attack were intact, "but not the computers or other hardware".