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)