Man arrested for inciting people to acts of destruction
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)