New chief asked to study purity of protests

New chief asked to study purity of protests

JAKARTA (JP): City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto
has asked newly-installed precinct police chief of Central
Jakarta, the capital's nerve center, to focus his attention on
demonstrations and strikes.

Hindarto made the remarks yesterday after he inducted Lt. Col.
Murawi Effendi, 45.

"The strong wave of openness has also brought fresh air to the
country and, in turn, stimulated some people into staging street
protests to air their opinions."

"However, a number of protests staged in this area were
apparently organized by third parties who intended to take
advantage of them," he said. He encouraged the new precinct chief
to check into all protests to see who was really behind them.

Hindarto cited recent protests against the government's
decision to ban three weekly publications and strikes by the city
minibus drivers to protest the enforcement of high traffic fines
in front of the state-owned Radio Republic Indonesia (RRI) on Jl.
Merdeka Barat as examples.

"Pure protests are legal, but those plotted by irresponsible
parties must be blocked," he explained.

Hindarto, therefore, asked Murawi to take proper measures to
prevent demonstrations before the protesters go to the street.

The two-star police general was apparently referring to
Central Jakarta's role as the nerve center of the national as
well as municipal governments.

President Soeharto's offices, the presidential palaces, and
the vice presidential offices are located there.

Some ministries, including the Ministry of Defense and
Security, and other vital agencies such as state-owned television
TVRI, state-owned RRI and the state telecommunications companies
are located in Central Jakarta as well.

Lt. Col. Murawi Effendi replaces Lt. Col. Dadang Garnida, who
was promoted to chief of the Palembang Police in South Sumatra.

Murawi's previous position was chief of the Tanjung Priok Port
Police. Murawi, a father of three, graduated from the Police
Academy in 1973.

"I have no formal training beyond what I got at the academy,"
he told The Jakarta Post.

Silent

Murawi would not comment on how he plans to carry out
Hindarto's advice.

"Let's not talk about this issue now," he said.

Murawi's predecessor, Dadang Garnida, said that he hopes he
will not have any crowd control problems in Palembang like those
he faced with protests in Jakarta.

"I pray to Allah that there will be no protests there,
especially those staged by journalists," he said referring to a
number of protests following the banning of the Tempo, DeTIK and
Editor weeklies.

Hindarto also instructed Murawi to take immediate measures in
tackling the increasing number of white-collar crime cases in the
mayoralty, which is home to many business activities in this
country.

"We all have to be alert and further improve our capability
and professionalism to fight against any new crime," he said.

According to a tentative schedule, Hindarto will install the
remaining six of eight chiefs of police precincts under the City
Police Headquarters this month. The induction of the eight police
precinct chiefs is a part of a major reshuffle. (bsr/has)