Scores of weapons confiscated from Gus Dur supporters
Scores of weapons confiscated from Gus Dur supporters
JAKARTA (JP): Police seized hundreds of weapons and arrested
22 people as thousands of President Abdurrahman Wahid supporters
from East Java arrived here on Tuesday.
Jakarta Police Detective Chief Sr. Comr. Adang Rochana said
the people were arrested at city bus terminals and railway
stations for possessing illegal weapons. Police questioned an
additional 100 people but later released them.
Adang said his officers had seized three huge sacks containing
500 weapons, including whips, swords, slingshots, rocks, machetes
and sickles. The sacks were discovered in minibuses which arrived
at the Pulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta.
He said that police also confiscated some 360 weapons from the
Pondok Gede area of East Jakarta, including the Haj dormitory,
where Gus Dur supporters had sought accommodation.
In Central Jakarta, Adang added, police arrested 17 people
arriving at the Senen railway station, Central Jakarta, in
possession of 28 sickles and machetes.
Three people were also arrested in the vicinity of the House
of Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly compound, for
carrying 26 machetes.
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said that
over 9,000 people had arrived in the capital by 2 p.m. on
Tuesday, and this figure was expected to increase.
About 400 female supporters of President Abdurrahman from
Surabaya, Probolinggo, Jombang and Pasuruan in East Java arrived
at the Senen railway station, he said. The women are members of
Fatayat, a female branch of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim
organization in East Java.
"They have come here to protest the May 30 plenary session and
show their support for Gus Dur," Anton said on Tuesday.
Separately, a group of people believed to be Abdurrahman
supporters have been staying at an Islamic boarding school in
Cisarua, in the mountainous Puncak resort area, Bogor regency.
Bogor Police chief Sr. Comr. Taufik Ridha confirmed that the
group had been staying at the boarding school for five days, but
insisted that their presence was not connected with political
tension in Jakarta.
Australia
Anton also said that representatives of the Australian Embassy
met with city police Chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Yacob on Tuesday, to
reportedly discuss the possibility of evacuating the thousands of
Australians currently residing here should the security situation
worsen.
"The city police chief assured the Australian representatives
that, should security conditions worsen here to the extent of
what happened during the bloody 1998 May riots, necessary
precautions would be taken to evacuate foreigners and escort them
to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport," Anton said.
The Australian Embassy, however, denied the report.
It is not true that the Australian Embassy assesses the
current situation in Jakarta as 'unsafe' and is planning to
evacuate its citizens from Indonesia, according to a statement
from the embassy.
The embassy also denied that the Australian Ambassador had
called the police chief to discuss the situation.
Embassy officers met the police to keep them well informed on
issues affecting the Australian community, according to the
statement.
Meanwhile, Governor Sutiyoso appealed on Tuesday to his
subordinates, mayors, subdistrict and district chiefs to stay
alert.
He also urged security authorities to take firm action against
visitors who conduct violence in the capital.
City councillors supported the implementation of a maximum
security alert in the city due to the current political tension.
Councillor Posman Siahaan from the Justice and Unity Party
also agreed that police should take stern action against rioters,
including the issuance of orders to shoot-on-sight.(ylt/21/jun)