Police to be firm on armed protesters
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi said on Tuesday that police officers would take stern measures against people who brandish weapons during protests.
"Do not blame me if the police start to take strict action. We cannot tolerate it anymore. Protesters must not carry weapons. We'll do whatever it takes to secure the capital," Nurfaizi told The Jakarta Post.
"We do not want to take harsh measures against our own citizens. So do not push us."
The two-star general was referring to an incident at the House of Representatives (DPR) complex on Monday, where some 1,000 members of the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'ah Forum revealed their plan to leave for strife-torn Maluku later this month. The forum members made their point verbally as well as by a show of force.
Wearing Muslim garb and headdress and carrying swords and machetes, they arrived on buses and trucks. Despite appeals and warnings from other quarters for the group to show restraint, the organization stepped up pressure to send volunteers to Maluku to stage a jihad and called for the removal of President Abdurrahman Wahid from office.
Nurfaizi said National Police chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo had instructed the Jakarta Police and the West Java Police to work together to overcome any problem arising from violent protests.
"I don't have to tell you what the police force has in mind in when it comes to dealing with ugly situations should they arise from these kinds of protests. What I can tell you is that we are ready to deploy our police troops," Nurfaizi said.
"The police are here to secure the city for residents, not to show off what we have in mind, and how will we go about it."
He added, however, that the way to handle such protests was not with force.
"These (protesters) are emotional. If we immediately strike out at them we could create a much bigger problem. We can't throw fire at them, we'll use water. We (should) speak to them via religious leaders and leaders of society," Nurfaizi said.
No interference
Separately, Army deputy chief Lt. Gen. Endriartono Sutarto called on non-Maluku residents to refrain from interfering in the Maluku unrest.
"Let the government settle the problem. I believe it will be completely settled," he said as quoted by Antara on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters after attending a ceremony at Tanjung Priok Port marking the sending of food aid to Aceh, Maluku, Kalimantan and East Nusa Tenggara, he said any military-like training, the aim of which was to create violence, would be prohibited.
"Such training is only for self-defense purposes," he said, and cited as an example Pencak Silat traditional martial arts, which involves the use of sharp weapons in its exercises.
Protesters marched to the third-floor office of House Speaker Akbar Tandjung on Monday. Some of them brandished swords, which alarmed hundreds of workers of shoe company PT Kong Tai who have been protesting in the House building for several weeks.
The group's so-called commander Jaffar Umar Thalib demanded during the meeting with Akbar that the House initiate the constitutional process to impeach the President for making controversial statements.
The group was particularly offended by the President remarking last week that Muslims in Maluku had received special treatment from the government over the last 30 years or so and that this in turn had frustrated Christians there, causing conflict between the two communities.
Forum chairman Ayip Syafruddin Soeratman announced after the meeting that the volunteers would still travel to Maluku after completing their training this month, irrespective of the appeals and warnings against their plan.
"If we cannot go, then we will conduct our jihad on Java," Ayip said. "We will attack Christians, who are most responsible for what is happening in Ambon," he said.
Some 3,000 volunteers of the group are currently training in a camp in Kayumanis district in Bogor. (ylt/imn)