Nine named suspects over Saturday's rioting in Painan

Nine named suspects over Saturday's rioting in Painan

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang

Police have declared nine people suspects in Saturday's rioting
that followed a protest over the inauguration of Pesisir Selatan
Regent Nasrul Abit and his deputy Syafrizal.

West Sumatra Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Akmil said on
Sunday that local police had questioned 20 people involved in the
protest, including several high school students.

It was the second violent protest against the results of a
direct regional election after an incident in the Bengkulu town
of Kaur two months ago.

Police opened fire on the protesters on Saturday, wounding two
of them who have also been named suspects in the incident.

The suspects were identified as Muspija, 46, Afrizal, 47,
Amar, 48, Nofriki, 24, Mike Putra Effendi, 24, Andi, 22 and
Fahmi, 17.

"I forget the other two," Akmil said.

Andi and Fahmi were treated in M. Zain General Hospital, due
to gunshot wounds.

Hundreds of people staged a protest on Saturday and felled
trees to set up roadblocks on the access road to the provincial
capital of Padang from the regental capital of Painan on the
northern coast. Children, students and housewives also joined the
protest.

The roadblocks were aimed at preventing newly installed
Governor Gamawan Fauzi from visiting Painan to inaugurate the
reelected regent. Painan is located some 30 kilometers south of
Padang.

Hundreds of vehicles were forced to turn back, and Gamawan and
his entourage finally reached Painan by boat.

Most of the protesters were residents of Tarusan, who voted
for candidates M. Yusril and Bakri Bakar, who lost by a narrow
margin of 1,196 votes to the pair of Nasrul and Syafrizal.

The Yusril-Bakri ticket challenged the election result last
month as they found indications of fraud in the poll -- including
the number of voters, which exceeded the registered number, and
findings of underage voters and multiple perforation.

The lawsuit, however, was overturned by the West Sumatra High
Court. The Pesisir Selatan Election Commission then declared
Nasrul and Syafrizal, who were nominated by a coalition of
Islamic parties, the winners with 72,738 votes.

A clash occurred on Saturday as the crowd tried to resist
hundreds of police officers who came to clear the roadblocks.

People threw stones and other objects at the officers,
injuring four of them. Protesters also took a police detective,
Brig. David, hostage, beating him before his release.

Police fired rubber bullets at the angry crowd, injuring at
least three people.

M. Akmil defended the tough measures, which he said were in
line with procedures.

"We opened fire to save the officer who was taken hostage," he
said.

Despite the riot, however, the inauguration ceremony of the
reelected regent and his deputy continued undisturbed at the
Zaini Zein Sports Center in Painan.

A clash over a regional election result erupted in Kaur
regency in another part of Sumatra Island in July, as thousands
of people attacked and set fire to the house of the local
legislature's council speaker, the regent's office, the local
office of the General Elections Commission and the office of the
public housing agency.

The angry mob suspected that the victory of incumbent Regent
Syaukani Saleh and his deputy Warman Suwardi was marred by
vote-buying.

The protest turned violent when no official was willing to
address the crowd.

Police named four people, including one of the losing
candidates, suspects. They are still under detention pending the
completion of the police's investigation into the case.