Police attack anti-regent protesters
Police attack anti-regent protesters
Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Tenggarong
Police officers violently broke up a picket inside the Kutai
Kartanegara regental administration compound here on Wednesday,
beating several picketers who were camping out to protest the
appointment of an acting regent.
Seven picketers were hurt in the incident with at least one
hospitalized for serious injuries. The police arrested 50 others
for questioning but later released them.
Witnesses described the incident as an ambush that took place
at about 7 a.m., when some 200 protesters held a sit-in protest
inside the Kutai administration office's compound in Tenggarong,
some 30 kilometers from Samarinda in East Kalimantan.
"Police stormed the tents where the protesters were staying
for shelter, and beat and kicked them and drove them out,"
witness and protest coordinator Winarno Saputro said.
Supriyadi, 18, a victim of the attack, said he was among those
beaten and kicked, although he had nothing to with the
demonstrators.
He said he was asked by a protest leader to install a sound
system during the protest: "The police ignored my appeals (to
them) and attacked me instead".
"I had cried out that I was not a demonstrator but the police
still beat me. I couldn't do anything and was later taken to
hospital," he said.
Kutai Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Supriyanto denied the
incident was an attack on demonstrators opposed to the swearing-
in of Awang Darma Bhakti as acting regent of Kutai.
He played the incident down as a "minor event", and firm
action taken by his subordinates to protect state assets.
Before the incident, he said, protesters had prevented the
police from entering the office compound to provide security
there. "This condition forced the police to take action," he
said.
He also claimed that the police had found liquor bottles near
the tents.
"This also sparked a friction among them. The incident was not
aimed to take over the area from the control of the masses, but
to prevent possible security disturbances," Suprianto said.
He said the police wanted Kutai to remain secure but were not
opposed to demonstrations. "We want the protesters to abide by
existing (legal) mechanisms and not to disadvantage themselves."
He did not elaborate further.
The protest that began on Dec. 13, originally involved
thousands of people, who had turned out to object to Awang
replacing former Kutai regent Syaukani HR who ended his five-year
term earlier this month.
The protesters said the move by the central government to
replace Syaukani was politically motivated and demanded his term
be extended until a new regent was directly elected in June next
year.
Since then, a group had picketed the local administration
building, paralyzing work there.
All offices inside the building had been locked and guarded by
police officers during the picket and local body officials had
remained at home.
Syaukani's reappointment was backed by his own council, which
voted his term be extended.
Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Tenggarong
Police officers violently broke up a picket inside the Kutai
Kartanegara regental administration compound here on Wednesday,
beating several picketers who were camping out to protest the
appointment of an acting regent.
Seven picketers were hurt in the incident with at least one
hospitalized for serious injuries. The police arrested 50 others
for questioning but later released them.
Witnesses described the incident as an ambush that took place
at about 7 a.m., when some 200 protesters held a sit-in protest
inside the Kutai administration office's compound in Tenggarong,
some 30 kilometers from Samarinda in East Kalimantan.
"Police stormed the tents where the protesters were staying
for shelter, and beat and kicked them and drove them out,"
witness and protest coordinator Winarno Saputro said.
Supriyadi, 18, a victim of the attack, said he was among those
beaten and kicked, although he had nothing to with the
demonstrators.
He said he was asked by a protest leader to install a sound
system during the protest: "The police ignored my appeals (to
them) and attacked me instead".
"I had cried out that I was not a demonstrator but the police
still beat me. I couldn't do anything and was later taken to
hospital," he said.
Kutai Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Supriyanto denied the
incident was an attack on demonstrators opposed to the swearing-
in of Awang Darma Bhakti as acting regent of Kutai.
He played the incident down as a "minor event", and firm
action taken by his subordinates to protect state assets.
Before the incident, he said, protesters had prevented the
police from entering the office compound to provide security
there. "This condition forced the police to take action," he
said.
He also claimed that the police had found liquor bottles near
the tents.
"This also sparked a friction among them. The incident was not
aimed to take over the area from the control of the masses, but
to prevent possible security disturbances," Suprianto said.
He said the police wanted Kutai to remain secure but were not
opposed to demonstrations. "We want the protesters to abide by
existing (legal) mechanisms and not to disadvantage themselves."
He did not elaborate further.
The protest that began on Dec. 13, originally involved
thousands of people, who had turned out to object to Awang
replacing former Kutai regent Syaukani HR who ended his five-year
term earlier this month.
The protesters said the move by the central government to
replace Syaukani was politically motivated and demanded his term
be extended until a new regent was directly elected in June next
year.
Since then, a group had picketed the local administration
building, paralyzing work there.
All offices inside the building had been locked and guarded by
police officers during the picket and local body officials had
remained at home.
Syaukani's reappointment was backed by his own council, which
voted his term be extended.