Police believe May riots not organized

JAKARTA (JP): Police have not found any indication the massive riots which hit the city in mid-May were organized, city police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman said Saturday.

He said the results of the police investigation into the 16 people named as agitators in the riots showed they acted independently.

"They did not know each other and what they did was spontaneous and not organized by certain parties," he said.

The National Commission on Human Rights said on July 2 that the riots were instigated by organized groups. The fact-finding team set up by the government is currently still conducting its investigation into the unrest. Its members consist of representatives of the Armed Forces, government institutions, Komnas HAM and non-governmental organizations.

Of the suspects, two were not detained at the city police headquarters due to guarantees from their relatives; ex-convict- turned-preacher Anton Medan alias M. Ramdhan Effendy and an alleged agitator in the Balaraja area in Tangerang named Ramli.

The 14 detained at several city police precincts are identified as Belek, Edi Siswanto, Matsroji, Agustinus, Epon, Sukarman, Subur, Matsari, Teguh, Yadi, Sofyan Arief, Sofran, Iwan Suprityatna and Ali Sofyan.

The 16 were named as agitators in the riots based on a confession from 1,119 looters arrested by the police. Their identities were uncovered following a series of investigations starting last month.

Noegroho said three of the suspects would soon be brought to trial as their dossiers had been handed over to the prosecutor's office.

He explained that police were currently cross-checking the witnesses' testimonies and facts found in the Anton Medan case.

Diverse testimony was provided by the witnesses in the field who claimed they saw Anton and Anton egging on the mobs, Noegroho said without disclosing details.

"Therefore, we are cross-checking with them to find out about the truth. But we named him a suspect based on sufficient grounds about his involvement in the fray," he said.

Late last month, the police interrogation of Anton Medan was postponed until further notice.

Anton has been represented by 20 lawyers from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation since he was named a suspect on July 10 for allegedly leading mobs in the looting and burning in the Gunung Sahari area, Central Jakarta.

Noegroho also said the police did not find any connection between the agitators and reports of widespread rapes of Chinese- Indonesians.

"We haven't found any evidence whatsoever which links the agitators and the rape reports," he added. (edt)