Manokwari police chief replaced

MANOKWARI, Irian Jaya: Manokwari Police chief Lt. Col. R.E. Hutabarat was replaced by Lt. Col. Agung Sabar Santoso in a ceremony on Wednesday.

The ceremony which was closed to journalists, was presided over by Irian Jaya Police chief Brig. Gen. Hotman Siagian.

The 'secret' replacement of Hutabarat was believed to be linked to the shooting to death of a local resident when police were handling a riot on Sept. 25.

Brig. Gen. Abraham O. Ataruri, leader of the fact-finding team which investigated the incident, mentioned the possible replacement of Hutabarat on Tuesday. But he did not say when the replacement would take place.

Ataruri, who is also a deputy governor, had earlier said that he would not leave Manokwari until Hutabarat was replaced.

Religious and community leaders had demanded that Hutabarat be replaced for the shooting.

Brig. Gen. Hotman Siagian was quoted by local daily Irja Post on Wednesday as saying that the replacement had no connection with the shooting. "It was a coincidence that Hutabarat was replaced soon after the riot broke out," he said.

Leader of the Love the Nation Democratic Party faction Florens Imbiri said that Siagian should be held responsibility for the death of John Wamafna.

Both Siagian and Hutabarat said that the victim was killed during the riot by a Molotov cocktail, not by a police bullet. However the fact finding team discovered that the victim was killed by a bullet. "That is why Siagian should also have quit his post," Imbiri said. (34)