Military arrest 37 in wake of Jayapura riot

Military arrest 37 in wake of Jayapura riot

JAKARTA (JP): The military has arrested 37 people believed to
have led Monday's riot in the capital of Jayapura which left four
people dead, Antara reported yesterday.

Trikora Regional Military Command Spokesman Lt. Col. Maulud
Hidayat said the suspects, believed to harbor separatist
sentiments, will be charged with inciting unrest.

One of them was arrested on Monday while tearing the red-and-
white national flag and another while hoisting the flag of the
Free Papua Movement, which has been fighting for a separate state
in Irian Jaya.

Jayapura was calm but tense yesterday as residents recovered
from the shocking riot that saw the main market in Abepura
district razed to the ground, dozens of cars set ablaze or
overturned and buildings and houses damaged.

Antara quoted military sources in Jayapura as saying that four
people were killed in the incident.

The riot involved thousands of youths who went on a rampage
shortly after the arrival of the body of Thomas Wapay Wainggai,
an Irian separatist leader who died in a Jakarta prison last
week. Earlier reports said the crowd, including students from
Cenderawasih University where Wainggai once taught, became angry
upon learning that his body was headed straight for his home in
Jayapura and that they would not be allowed to pay their last
respects.

Military sources identified one of the victims as First
Corporal Marthinus Wenda of the Kiwirok military district. He is
believed to have been stabbed by a kiosk owner in Abepura market
who mistook him for one of the rioters. The soldier was not
wearing his Army uniform when he was stabbed.

Another victim, John Wenda from Arso village near Jayapura,
was hit by a bus commandeered by rioters.

The third victim, Sem Ereli from the Jayapura School of
Theology, was stabbed to death.

The fourth victim was a woman, identity unknown, who fell from
the roof of her burning house.

The main streets of Jayapura were heavily guarded by soldiers
yesterday, when relatives of buried the remains of Wainggai at a
family cemetery near his home.

Witnesses said there were no incidents.

Budhi Setyanto, the director of the Jayapura office of the
Legal Aid Institute (LBH), told The Jakarta Post by phone that
the incident has strained relations between Irianese and migrants
in the town.

"The Irianese seem to hate anyone with straight hair," he
said. Most Irianese, who are of Melanesian stock, have curly
hair.

Many Bugis people, a Sulawesi ethnic group, are feeling bitter
that their kiosks in the Abepura market were targeted by the
rioters, Budhi said.

Some traders tried to resume their activities yesterday,
conducting their trade from makeshift tents built next to the
ashes of the former market.

Mobility was also complicated yesterday because most roads
were closed by soldiers, he said. "The roads between Abepura and
Jayapura and between Jayapura and Sentani Airport were closed to
private and public vehicles," he said. (imn/pan)

Editorial -- Page 4