Police arrest Dili riot suspect
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang
Dominggus dos Santos, the suspected main actor in the deadly riot in Dili, East Timor on Dec. 4, was arrested on Monday night in the Indonesian territory of Atambua, Belu regency, when he was trying to escape from the United Nations Civilian Police (CivPol).
Kupang military chief Col. Moeswarno Moesanip said that the suspect was being detained at the Belu military headquarters for further investigation.
"During the preliminary questioning, he admitted to being one of the rioters in Dili on Dec. 4 and 5. He was running away to West Timor to escape the CivPol," Moeswarno told The Jakarta Post here on Tuesday.
Moeswarno added that his office was coordinating with the CivPol to deport the alleged suspect.
Dominggus admitted to having torched some buildings, including the residence of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, the Pantai Kelapa mosque, and the Hello Mister supermarket belonging to an Australian businessman.
After hiding for a while in Comoro, Dili, Dominggus decided to flee to West Timor.
At least two people were killed and dozens of cars and motorbikes were set ablaze. Hello Mister supermarket was looted before being burned down.
The riot was triggered by angry students who demanded the release of an arrested student. Shots were fired and one student was killed.
However, government and UN officials and some analysts agree the violence was far more than a simple student protest against police which got out of control.
Internal Affairs Minister Rogerio Lobato blamed people linked to a group called CDP-RDTL and called the violence a plot to overthrow the government.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said former pro- Jakarta militias were involved, although he did not suggest they were acting under Indonesia's orders.
In other news, Antara reported that 60 coordinators from various refugee camps in Atambua urged the local administration to quickly distribute rice donated from the Italian government.
The refugees continued their cries when Mathias Morok, an official with the Belu administration, said that his office did not have enough money to finance the distribution.
He revealed that the province only transported the rice donation to the Belu administration in Atambua, and that the distribution should be handled by the regency administration.
An official with the social affairs agency, Untung, said of the total 116 tons of rice donated, only 48.5 tons had passed through the Belu administration. The remaining rice was still with the provincial administration in Kupang.
The Belu administration would distribute the rice donation to the 22,886 refugee families only after all donations had been transported to the regency administration.