Police admit attack on LBH office wrong

JAKARTA (JP): The city police and the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) reached an agreement on Monday to respect each other's rights following a controversial attack on the lawyers' office last week.

LBH deputy director Daniel Panjaitan said after a meeting with the city police's deputy chief Brig. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara that the police would honor "LBH integrity" by avoiding arbitrary searches and raids on the LBH office.

Police broke into the office on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta last Wednesday and arrested 14 people inside whom they accused of inciting a mass brawl pitting Student Executive Board (BEM) activists demanding President Abdurrahman Wahid step down and their rivals demanding Golkar's dissolution.

"The police promised they would no longer make arbitrary raids on our office and arrest people in case of a mass brawl occurring nearby," Daniel said.

He said Makbul admitted that the attack was wrong but justified it as "an attempt to calm the BEM supporters who were emotional."

The clash broke out as BEM activists were marching towards their base at the University of Indonesia campus in Salemba, Central Jakarta.

A group of people reportedly tossed molotov cocktails at the marching students near the LBH office. The attackers were believed to be hiding inside the building.

Daniel denied allegations that the attackers took shelter at his office.

"All but one of the people arrested by the police were our clients who were consulting with us about their cases," Daniel said.

BEM activists went to the city police on Friday to hand over dozens of molotov cocktails they claimed were to have been used by the rival group to attack them.

Daniel said that if the BEM failed to produce witnesses in connection with the attack, the case should be closed.

Separately, activists from the Democratic People's Party, National Student Movement League and several other student groups issued a joint-statement demanding the police investigate the alleged attack on the BEM students in a fair and impartial manner. (01/amd)