Police get slap on wrists over Manggarai shooting
Police get slap on wrists over Manggarai shooting
Yemris Fointuna, Kupang
A police disciplinary committee in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara,
imposed light sanctions Monday on two mid-ranking officers for
their roles in a shooting incident last March on Flores island
that killed six people.
The committee, however, exonerated intelligence unit chief
First Insp. I Made Andhika, a mid-ranking police officer in
Manggarai regency, Flores, of all charges.
East Nusa Tenggara Police spokesman First Insp. C. Waton said
the two officers who were punished were the Manggarai Police's
chief of operations, Adj. Comr. Zainuddin, and operation guidance
head Second Insp. I Wayan Bayu.
The two were only given written reprimands and are banned from
taking part in police training courses for six months, Waton
added.
"The two mid-ranking officers have been found guilty of
negligence in the performance of their duties, so they have been
sanction in accordance with Article 4 of Government Regulation
No. 3/2003 on police discipline," he explained.
The same committee had earlier ordered the dismissal of
Manggarai Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Boni Tompoi for failing to
prevent the incident on March 11.
Hearings involving 19 junior police officers continued on
Tuesday and the committee, presided over by East Nusa Tenggara
deputy police chief, Sr. Comr. Arthur Damanik, is scheduled to
hand down its decisions on their cases on Wednesday.
The committee began hearing charges on May 13 against the four
mid-ranking and 19 junior police officers.
All 23 police personnel were accused of violating the
government regulation on police discipline.
East Nusa Tenggara Police last week said the officers would
face various penalties in line with the gravity of their
offenses, including written reprimands, one-year promotion
delays, the postponing of regular salary increases, demotions
and, the severest punishment, 21 days imprisonment.
The Manggarai shootings occurred after local regent Anton
Bagul Dagur ordered his subordinates to fell thousands of coffee
trees in plantations belonging to local people in Colol village
early in March.
There were few villagers in the area when public order
officers and police personnel arrived and began cutting down the
trees. The residents, who insisted that the area was ancestral
land, put up resistance, but were arrested and detained at
Manggarai police station.
The following day, some 400 residents arrived at the police
office to protest against the arrest of their neighbors. The
demonstration turned ugly when the police refused to release the
detainees, with the angry crowd attacking police personnel.
In retaliation, officers fired on the crowd, killing six
people and seriously injuring 28 others.
Last month, a National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)
team visited Manggarai to investigate alleged human rights abuses
during the melee.
However, the team has yet to announce the results of its
probe.