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)
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