Nine police officers to face the law after campus attack

Nine police officers to face the law after campus attack

Abdul Khalik and Andi Hajramurni, Jakarta/Makassar

One high-ranking and eight low-ranking police officers will stand
trial while over 30 others will face the police disciplinary
committee for their involvement in Saturday's attack on
university students in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar told House of
representatives commissions I and II on Wednesday that all
officers involved in the attack on the Indonesia Muslim
University (UMI) would be charged accordingly.

"We have three charges. Several officers will only face a
disciplinary committee and administrative punishment such as
demotion. Others will be fired, and several officers will stand
trial," he said. The attack left 65 students injured.

Insp. Gen. Jusuf Manggabarani, who was South Sulawesi Police
chief until he was removed on Monday, said in the hearing that
the investigating team had named 21 officers as suspects after
questioning 34 police personnel.

He said that one of unit heads of the detective division,
First Insp. Irwanto, would face criminal charges because it was
he who led other police officers onto the UMI campus.

"We will charge him under articles 351 and 170 of the Criminal
Code," said Jusuf.

He added that eight low-ranking police personnel would be
charged under the same articles, which stipulate that a person
committing mass assault can face a maximum 10 years in prison.

Jusuf added that 12 other middle-ranking officers would face a
disciplinary committee with a possible punishment of removal or
dismissal.

He said that eight other personnel from the city police
headquarters were currently being investigated.

"The number of officers to be brought to court will increase,
depending on the ongoing investigation," said Jusuf.

The police stormed the campus on May 1 in a bid to release a
policeman who had reportedly been taken hostage by students
protesting the rearrest of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, 66, a
controversial Muslim cleric, in Jakarta on terrorism charges.

Da'i agreed with one House member who proposed that students
who were involved in assaulting police personnel or cadets should
be punished according to the law.

"In order to be fair, all people, including students who
tortured police personnel, must also be punished based on the
Criminal Code," he said.

The campus attack was provoked by the hostage-taking of a
policeman by demonstrating students followed by the beating of
another officer.

Students continued their rallies on Wednesday against police
brutality on several campuses in Makassar. But their actions
provoked public reaction in two places. When student protesters
tried to enter the residential complex where former police chief
Jusuf lives, residents in the complex blocked them. A group of
'45 University students heading toward city headquarters were
also chased by residents living nearby. The residents were
apparently angry at the students for disrupting their daily
activities. The chase did not turn into a clash as the students
quickly fled to the nearby School of Economics and Management
(STIEM) Bungaya.

"If students want to demonstrate, that's fine. But they should
not block the road because it will disrupt our activities. The
students should also leave Jusuf's family members alone, for they
have nothing to do with the UMI case," said one of residents.