Police deny torture used in Parung clash

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Police have denied torturing residents during a clash with Cibentang villagers over the installation of high-voltage electric cables.

A lieutenant colonel, who wanted to be anonymous, told The Jakarta Post yesterday the officers just pushed the protesters.

"Pushing people in such a mass protest is common. There was no beating. Anyhow, if there are people who were beaten by police, they can report it to the Military Police," he said.

He also denied police deployed hundreds of officers, saying that only 30 officers from riot units were sent to the village after the protests.

Residents said yesterday the clash came after security officials closed off a rice field area to protect PLN technicians installing cables.

The residents, who oppose the 500-Kilo-Volt transmission cable, said Thursday was the fourth and worst encounter they had had with security people.

The Jakarta Post met three of five people injured in Thursday's clash.

Matin, 25, showed his wounded foot. He said four others were seriously wounded because police trampled on them. Matin said he was in hospital for two days.

Witnesses said about 100 people got minor injuries in the clash.

A resident said one victim was still in hospital.

However, the head of the Cibentang village, H.M. Rais, told private television station Indosiar that no one was injured.

The lieutenant colonel said the electric cable stretched from Cilegon in the westernmost tip of West Java to Cibinong, a town some 20 kilometers north of here. "That means the cable is 1.8 kilometers long and is installed over many villages. But how come only the 65 families in the Cibentang village are against the installation and asking for higher compensation".

"It must be PKI (the banned Indonesian Communist Party) or NII (the defunct Negara Islam Indonesia, an Islamic separatist movement) behind the perpetrators," the officer said. He did not elaborate.

Reports

In a related development, a lawyer for the protesters said five people representing the residents had lodged complaints about torture with the Bogor District Police.

The Police chief, Lt. Col. Ruslan Riza confirmed the residents' complaints.

Nusantara Legal Aid Institute lawyer Abidin Fikri said Ruslan suggested the residents forward their compensation demands to the state electricity company, PLN.

"The chief also pledged there would be no more abuse against the villagers," the lawyer said.

The last clash took place on Dec. 12 after the residents were enraged by the presence of soldiers in the village.

The residents said they just wanted compensation for their property which was affected by the cable project.

They said they would quit their properties when they got reasonable compensation.

The police lieutenant colonel said there would be no land compensation for the residents. The compensation was only for the plants cut when the cables were erected, he said.

The residents demanded Rp 40,000 a square meter of land, Rp 25 million for permanent houses, Rp 12.5 million for semipermanent houses and Rp 6.25 million for shacks.

Village head Rais said he did not know anything about the compensation demands. "The residents negotiated directly with PLN".

Rais said he was informed of the case only after the clash. (05/24/sur)