People run amok in S. Sulawesi and N. Sumatra
People run amok in S. Sulawesi and N. Sumatra
UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): Calm returned on Sunday to
Jeneponto, a small town 60 kilometers south of here, after it was
rocked by rioting on Friday over the swearing in of a disliked
regent.
Hundreds of angry residents attacked the local legislative
building on Friday to protest the election of Baharuddin Baso
Tika. They demanded that Abdul Rachim, the head of the local
legislature, nullify the September election of Baharuddin.
Rachim reportedly ignored the request and instead fired a
warning shot into a wall, further angering the crowd which then
set fire to the building.
No casualties were reported, and Baharuddin was officially
installed by South Sulawesi Governor H.Z.B. Palaguna on Saturday
at another venue.
The residents were reportedly angered by a claim by a local
legislator that he had been offered a bribe of Rp 15 million
(US$2,000) by a person who claimed to be a Baharuddin supporter.
An earlier investigation launched by the local police into the
bribery charge was dropped owing to insufficient evidence, but
protests grew against Baharuddin, who secured 19 out of 31 votes,
defeating two other candidates.
During his swearing in, Baharuddin made no comment about the
protests, but Palaguna said that if Baharuddin was found guilty
of bribery he would lose his post.
On Sunday, the evening Suara Pembaruan daily said that
hundreds of people also ran amok on Friday in the Central
Sulawesi town of Poso after a teenager was stabbed in the stomach
by a drunk man.
The angry mob first targeted the man's house and later moved
downtown, pelting office buildings and shop-houses with stones
and setting fire to a discotheque and a restaurant.
No casualties were reported, but local police recorded 13
buildings damaged, including hotels, homes and a distillery.
On Saturday, Antara reported that thousands of enraged
residents shouting religious slogans attacked a red-light
district near Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, on Friday and
clashed with prostitutes and brothel owners.
The news agency said several people were injured in the
afternoon clash which lasted more than an hour before police were
able to bring the situation under control.
The around 5,000 crowd was infuriated that the Sicanang night
entertainment area in Belawan, west of Medan, had not closed
during the holy fasting month, the agency said.
The crowd, which included women and Muslim teachers from Medan
and its surrounding districts, gathered first at Salam Mosque
then marched on Sicanang, where they fought with inhabitants.
Security forces managed to persuade the mob to disperse after
giving brothel owners a Monday deadline to cease activities for
the rest of the fasting month of Ramadhan which ends on Jan. 19.
The North Sumatra government, like many provincial governments
in the country, had asked "places of entertainment" to close
during Ramadhan. (Upik Jupriadi/30/byg)