Man arrested for inciting people to acts of destruction

JAKARTA (JP): Trisakti University students and residents along Jl. Pulo Mas Selatan in East Jakarta apprehended a man for attempting to incite people to commit destructive acts.

Chief of campus security D. Gultom announced on Monday that the man, who identified himself as Richard Dewilmaar Simatupang, was arrested on Friday for repeatedly shouting, "Burn mosques, burn churches, but don't burn Jesus," in front of the campus.

"The local residents call him a provocateur, but we don't want to call him that. We realize that we have to be careful now as many people can easily be incited after similar agitation. We don't want any bloody riots and brawls occurring here just because of such irresponsible shouts," Gultom said.

Richard, estimated to be around 30, carried a brown cloth bag full of papers, books and five cassettes.

"I don't really remember what the titles of the books were, but the papers mentioned politics and Sukarno," Gultom said, referring to first president Sukarno.

Richard, who apparently hails from Sumatra, told campus security guards that he dropped out of the University of Pembangunan Nasional (UPN).

"He claims he lives in Jakarta in the Purna Bakti housing complex in Pondok Labu, near the UPN campus," Gultom said.

Gultom said that Richard suddenly appeared on the street at about 3 p.m. on Friday and joined people who were sitting in front of food stalls along the street.

"He (Richard) then preached to people, who first thought he was crazy, about his deep disappointment with the condition of religion in the country," Gultom said.

After stopping for two to five minutes, he then left, urging people to burn churches and other property, Gultom said.

People became disturbed by Richard's actions and the students took the initiative to take Richard to the campus to avoid an ugly scene.

Richard was then sent to East Jakarta Police station by the students after the Commission on Violence and Missing Persons (Kontras) refused to have anything to do with the man.

Separately, Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman confirmed the citizens' arrest and said that the man was now in city police custody for further investigation.

"He declined to speak to police and we've already sought psychological counseling, but the results aren't ready yet," he announced after a routine commanders meeting at police headquarters.

His lack of response to simple questions, such as about his identity and address, has led the police to believe that the man is mentally disturbed. (emf)