Mob vandalizes Makassar court building, attacks staffer

Mob vandalizes Makassar court building, attacks staffer

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): At least 150 people ran amok on
Monday, vandalizing the provincial State Administrative Court
(PTUN) building here, and attacking a member of staff.

Eyewitnesses said the office employees, including judges
rushed out for safety upon seeing an arriving gang of people
brandishing both blunt and sharp weapons.

"The action lasted for about an hour," Hamka Djarot, a lawyer
who witnessed the incident, said.

Another witness, Nur Gamma, said he saw female employees
scatter, screaming for help as the angry people entered the
building.

Hamka said he did not see policemen on the scene and that,
apparently, made the attackers more violent. "They smashed the
windows, damaged doors and office equipment, and set fire to a
table in the court."

The mob, who claimed to be residents of Panaikang, dispersed
after one of them cut a court staffer, Agussalim, in the neck
with a sharp weapon.

The court officials assumed that the attack related to a land
dispute between the residents and PT Garmak Motor, a private
automotive company linked to Probosutedjo, a half-brother of
former president Soeharto.

According to the deputy secretary of the Makassar State
Administrative Court, Sehat Bage, the Panaikang residents might
have been upset as they had appealed to the State Administrative
High Court over the case and were turned down.

"If the attack did relate to the dispute, they should have not
caused such anarchy. They have the opportunity to counter the
court verdict. What they did is a crime, and we will ask law
enforcers to take legal steps to deal with this," Sehat said.

Sehat said he had called for the police's help as soon as the
assault began. "Policemen were late and that was what happened."

Police officers who arrived at the scene said they believed
some of the attackers were thugs. (27/sur)