Madiun Police chief discharged over clash

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".