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.