Police, TNI spilt over Poso slaying

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The police said they would continue their investigation into five men who are suspected of being responsible for the recent beheadings of three schoolgirls in Poso, Central Sulawesi, despite a move by the local military to release them.

The Army's 714th Battalion reportedly released on Saturday the five men, four civilians and a retired military police officer, who were arrested last week due to a lack of evidence and because the seven-day detention period without charges allowed under the antiterror law was over.

It is not immediately clear why the Army did not hand over the five men to the police as required by the law to launch a proper investigation.

"The investigation is still going on. But we cannot rush into declaring them (the five men) suspects," Central Sulawesi Police chief Oegroseno was quoted by Antara as saying on Saturday.

"We need more evidence before naming them (the five men) as suspects, including a complete report from the forensic laboratory in Jakarta which is currently conducting blood tests. We will then examine the laboratory's findings in the light of other evidence we found at the (crime) sites," he added.

Two weeks ago, the Army's 714th Battalion, which is stationed in Rononuncu in Poso city, launched a two-day operation in connection with the recent beheadings of three Christian schoolgirls in an apparent attempt to reignite sectarian conflict in Poso.

During the operation, which was held separately in Poso and the town of Ampana in Tojo Una-Una regency, some 200 kilometers east of Poso, the soldiers arrested five people, including Tony Mowala alias Rinto, 51, a former military police officer.

The other four are Irfan Anjiro, 23, a security guard, Jamiluddin alias Jamil, 25, also a security guard, Ridwan Masero, 25, a farmer and Saleman Yunus alias Herman, 28, a motorcycle taxi driver.

Poso, has witnessed sectarian violence in recent years.

More than 1,000 people were killed in a bloody sectarian conflict between Muslims and Christians between 2000 and 2001. The residents have also seen sporadic bomb attacks, assassinations, and assaults, the latest of which happened late last week involving another student and a teacher of a local junior high school.

Meanwhile, a rights activist has questioned the arrest of the five men by the Army saying "it is against the law".

"I'm questioning the arrest by the servicemen of the five men because it is against the law. The military is not authorized to arrest civilians. Even the antiterror law has said that the military should hand over suspected terrorists to the police immediately after arrest," said Usman Hamid, a coordinator of the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of the Violence (Kontras).

Usman further questioned why the five men were kept in the battalion's camp for the seven days, leaving the police with no access to question them.

"I believe that within the last seven days, there was no legal process taken against the five, and I see that the military were intent on taking advantage of legal loopholes," Usman said.