NGOs report Governor supporters to police

NGOs report Governor supporters to police

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Dozens of non-governmental organizations on Thursday filed
complaints with the police against Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's
supporters, who violently attacked activists and demonstrators
during an anti-Sutiyoso rally in front of City Hall the previous
day.

They demanded the police investigate the case involving about
300 members of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR), who attacked
activists and flood victims as they were demonstrating in support
of a class action suit against the President, the Jakarta
governor and the West Java governor.

More than 30 NGOs have filed a class action suit against the
government for its failure to control the recent floods.

They plaintiffs include Indonesian Corruption Watch, the
Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, the Urban Poverty
Consortium, The Indonesian Forum for the Environment, the Jakarta
Becak (motorized pedicab) Association, and the Indonesian
Consumers Foundation.

The violence occurred as dozens of activists were staging a
rally and collecting signatures on a 1,000 meter-long banner in
support of their legal action.

"This is a violation of human rights," the NGOs said in a
statement before filing their complaints with the police.

During the incident, the FBR members used sticks and offensive
weapons like machetes to disperse the protesters. They also beat
some of them, and pulled the hair of a female activist.

The FBR members circulated statements praising Sutiyoso's
actions to help the flood victims, and threatened the activists
and other demonstrators if they continued their protests against
the governor.

Urban Poverty Consortium chairwoman Wardah Hafidz said that
the violence was a countermove by the authorities, which could
not tolerate the people trying to bring them to justice.

In their statements, the NGOs demanded on Thursday that the
Jakarta administration and the Jakarta Police be held responsible
for the violence, which they claimed was also a violation of Law
No. 9/1999 on freedom of speech.

They also expressed their concerns that the police did not
take action against FBR members who were carrying offensive
weapons in a public place.

Sutiyoso denied on Thursday that he was behind the action by
the FBR, claiming that he knew nothing about the attack. He also
accused the NGOs of always "finding fault" with him.

"These NGOs will blame me even if I only whistle. Even if
there is a movement or an attempt to defend me, they point their
fingers at me. There's only six months left before I leave
(office). What's the use of organizing such an action," said
Sutiyoso, whose term of office ends in October.

The governor had previously claimed to have no ambition to be
reelected, but he later retracted his statement, saying that he
would not mind being nominated for a second term.

Sutiyoso also said he regretted the class action suit filed by
the flood victims, accusing the NGOs of using the victims for
their own interests.

"What makes me concerned is that they (the NGO activists) have
involved people who aren't aware that their activities may only
be for the interests of their group," Sutiyoso said.

A total of 15 flood-victim class representatives from all over
the capital on Wednesday filed their suit with the Central
Jakarta District Court.

One of the 15 plaintiffs lost a family member in the floods.

A total of 32 lawyers will represent the plaintiffs, who are
demanding more than Rp 2.7 billion in compensation from the three
officials over losses occasioned by the floods. The plaintiffs
claim that the accuseds failed to take adequate measures to
anticipate the natural disaster.

Sutiyoso said that his administration would employ a team of
lawyers to defend him.