Security officers withdrawn from the city starting today

Security officers withdrawn from the city starting today

JAKARTA (JP): Security officers, who were deployed in the capital as a safeguard to the election in the city last week, will start being withdrawn today, said Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso.

Sutiyoso told reporters yesterday that the withdrawal will take place as the security of the city, where a number of riots erupted during the election campaign period, had already returned to normal.

"There is no reason to continue maintaining the deployment, as the situation in Jakarta is already back to normal," the commander was quoted by Antara as saying.

About 25,000 officers, including 17,000 policemen, were deployed to safeguard the election in the capital.

Sutiyoso explained that the withdrawal will be conducted in stages and that security and order duties will be given back to city police.

The Jakarta military commander, who is also chairman of the city's Agency for the Coordination of Support for the Development of National Stability (Bakorstanasda), also urged city police to speed up the legal process for people who were involved in breaching campaign regulations and public security.

"It's better to legally process the people involved in criminal activities and release those who were just followers," he said.

Sutiyoso also expressed his thanks to all Jakarta residents for their willingness to control their emotions and for being not so easily provoked, thereby preventing a number of arrests.

"People's awareness was so high that security during the election went as smoothly as expected," he said. (hhr)