Plans to bring body to DPR dropped

Plans to bring body to DPR dropped

JAKARTA (JP): Friends of a hoodlum who was fatally shot by
police on Friday have dropped their plans to carry the corpse to
the House of Representatives.

Two representatives of the hoodlum's friends agreed yesterday
to bury him peacefully, Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Iman
Haryatna said.

The men, Hendrikus and Valentine, met the Central Jakarta
Police Chief Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira, to convey their
agreement regarding the remains of the late Immanuel Soares, Iman
said.

He said Soares was shot twice in the back early Friday morning
after trying to attack officers, two hours after hacking to death
a 55-year-old deaf vendor in the Bongkaran slum area in the Tanah
Abang district.

Soares was known as a troublemaker by local vendors.

The shooting led to protests from his friends, who went to the
morgue at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital where the body
was kept. They insisted on taking the corpse, which they planned
to carry to the House of Representatives.

The men were unable to take custody of the body as they did
not have police permission to do so.

"Nobody in this country is allowed to take away any corpse and
carry it in a procession on the road," Lt. Col. Abubakar said.
(bsr)