Police, Army trade blame over Ambon shooting

Police, Army trade blame over Ambon shooting

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Army's Special Force (Kopassus) and the National Police
took swipes at each other on Wednesday, after the police accused
two Kopassus soldiers of being directly involved in Monday's
escape of a suspected provocateur reportedly involved in recent
violent attacks in riot-torn Maluku province.

Police questioned the presence of First Lt. Rory Sitorus and
Chief Pvt. Made Inpres at a residence in the Kudamati region of
Ambon, where the suspect, Berty Loupatty, was taking refuge late
on Monday night.

Loupatty, a notorious leader of a gang of hoodlums, is a
member of the Christian separatist group Maluku Sovereignty Front
(FKM), which is led by Alex Manuputty.

The two Kopassus soldiers shot two police officers who had
come searching for Loupatty at a residence of his colleague,
Paulus, in an incident that began late on Monday night and ended
early on Tuesday morning. As a result of the incident, Loupatty
escaped.

He was, however, arrested at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday by a
joint team of detectives, intelligence officers from the
military, police and the military police. Loupatty is currently
in the custody of the Maluku Military Police, local Kopassus
intelligence officer Maj. Imam Santosa Ramadhani told The Jakarta
Post on Wednesday.

Sr. Comr. Prasetyo of the National Police Information division
demanded an explanation of the two Kopassus officers' presence at
the site of the incident.

He said Maluku Police detectives were going to arrest Loupatty
on Monday over suspicion of his involvement in recent attacks on
villages in Ambon. Police searched for Loupatty on Monday at his
residence but could not locate him. However, late in the evening
they received information that he was at Paulus' residence. "When
police officers Adj. Comr. Sudarjo and First Brig. Andre Kakisina
reached Paulus' home, they found these Kopassus soldiers there,"
Prasetyo said.

"The two soldiers told the police officers they were going to
question Paulus. When police demanded the soldiers show the
warrant to prove they had been assigned to question Paulus, the
soldiers responded by shooting the police officers," he said.

Pvt. Made, who is reportedly suffering from injuries,
including a broken leg, has been flown to Jakarta for medical
treatment. He was allegedly beaten up badly by police officers,
after Andre was shot in the leg and Sudarjo in the thigh.

Sources have indicated the Pattimura Military Command has been
angered by this incident and is about to take legal action
against Maluku Police, for alleged abusive treatment toward the
two soldiers.

Prasetyo refused to comment on rumors that police had wanted
to arrest Loupatty, based on information that FKM would be
launching a series of bombings on places of worship in Ambon, or
that Kopassus had been investigating the close relationship the
Maluku Police had with Manuputty and Loupatty.

Following the incident, Kopassus raided Manuputty's residence,
where confidential documents and weapons were confiscated. In
Kopassus' defense, Maj. Imam said that Kopassus soldiers had been
posted near the FKM Headquarters to watch the area around the
residence of Manuputty, who happened to live close to Loupatty.

Spokesman for the Pattimura Military Command in Ambon Maj.
Herry Suhardi, said earlier that Loupatty often provided
information on certain FKM rebels to the security forces in
Ambon.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who appeared agitated on Wednesday over
the incident, ordered Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Adm. Widodo
A.S and National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar to disclose the
facts in connection with the recent clashes, "to the public, in a
transparent way".

"The recent clash between security personnel, which is not the
first time in Maluku, is embarrassing," Susilo said, adding that
Widodo and Da'i should not hesitate to replace the local police
and military chiefs if they were proven to be incapable of
maintaining peace in the troubled region.

Conflicts between members of the TNI and the police have
occurred in the past in Maluku. The police and the Army have been
accused of taking sides in the conflict, for either religious or
economic reasons, which has pitted Muslims and Christians against
each other.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in sectarian conflicts
that have ravaged Maluku since 1999. A government-brokered peace
agreement in February this year brought a brief period of calm
but this has been undermined by a series of violent incidents
since early April -- notably the April 28 massacre of 12
Christian villagers in Soya.

Following the recent arrest of the commander of Java-based
Islamic militia group Laskar Jihad, Ja'far Umar Thalib, who has
been charged with agitation and incitement that reportedly led to
the Soya attack, the government ordered the disbanding of FKM and
the expulsion of Laskar Jihad from Ambon.

Vice President Hamzah Haz reiterated on Wednesday his support
for Ja'far, stating that Ja'far's speech in Ambon could not be
directly related to the Soya incident.