Police seize weapons in raids
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Central Sulawesi Police seized more than 500 weapons including homemade firearms in two days of raids over the weekend following a bombing in the restive regency of Poso on Nov. 13 that killed six people.
Provincial police chief Brig. Gen. Aryanto Sutadi led over 500 officers in the raids, which covered 13 villages in Donggala regency, the scene of recent clashes.
Aryanto said the raids would be expanded to cover other areas, including Poso.
"The raids were shock therapy for locals. Next time we will arrest anyone in possession of weapons and charge them under Law No. 12/1951 on state of emergency," he said.
Anyone found violating the law can receive a maximum punishment of death.
The operation over the weekend was not without its challenges. Residents of Jono-Oge and Maranatha villages protested the police's failure to show them search warrants.
"This operation is for the benefit of all of you who want to see this conflict end," Aryanto told villagers in Jono-Oge. "We are here to help you realize the peace you all want."
Jono-Oge has been the site of a series of clashes over the last few years, with the latest incident occurring last month.
In Maranatha village, where sectarian violence erupted earlier this year, a group of youths put up a roadblock to try and stop the raid.
"The police cannot take our machetes because we use them to work on our farms," one youth said.
Only after Aryanto promised to replace the machetes with more suitable farming tools did the villagers remove the roadblock.
The raids follow a deadly bombing on a public minivan near the Pasar Sentral market in Poso.
Police arrested two men suspected of involvement in the attack, but released them after one day due to a lack of evidence.
Two weeks before the bombing, Poso residents were shocked by the beheading of a village chief and the shooting death of a bus driver.
Sporadic violence has plagued Poso and neighboring regencies since a peace deal was signed in December 2001 by groups involved in two years of sectarian clashes in Poso.