Medan Police chief says shooting incident justified

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Police here defended on Thursday the use of severe measures against alleged looters in Dua Puluh Baru village last week in an incident in which a woman was killed.

Personnel complied with procedures in handling the unrest in Binjai regency, chief of the North Sumatra Police Brig. Gen. Sutiyono said after a ceremony to celebrate the 53rd anniversary of the National Police.

The woman was killed when police opened fire on hundreds of villagers, some of them children, who took over a shrimp farm belonging to Hasan last Thursday. The local branch of the Legal Aid Institute has filed a protest concerning the police's measures.

"We did not mean to kill anybody. We just tried to restore order, but it was impossible for us to only blow a whistle if they chose to turn a deaf ear on our remarks," Sutiyono said.

He denied the woman died from a gunshot wound.

"She fell down after being shot in the leg, and the fleeing mob trampled her to death," he said.

Police said the villagers were angered after Hasan refused to meet their demand for a share of the shrimp harvest. Residents living around a farm usually receive a part of the harvest in a ceremony locally called turles.

Several police officers were injured in the unrest, the largest incident since about 5,000 students and workers took to the streets over a land dispute here in May. In March, two bodies were found following a demonstration to protest environmental damage blamed on pulp producer PT Indorayon Utama near Lake Toba.

Sutiyono accused the villagers of criminal acts through their use of force.

He also regretted the use of women and children as human shields in the clash.

However, he faulted Hasan for failing to comply with local tradition.(39/amd)