Seven rioters taken to court in Banjarnegara

SEMARANG (JP): Seven people will be taken to court for looting and vandalism during the April 9 riot in Banjarnegara, about 130 kilometers southwest of here, police said yesterday.

Banyumas police chief Col. Bhinarto said the suspects were caught vandalizing public property and looting shops during the riot.

"Four of them face hefty sentences because they committed subversive acts, such as attacking police patrol cars," said Bhinarto, whose areas of jurisdiction include Banjarnegara and Wonosobo.

The riot in Banjarnegara and the nearby Wonosobo was triggered by a clash between supporters of the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP) and the dominant Golkar party.

Bhinarto said those detained were people "sympathetic" to PPP but not party members.

They looted shops and pelted stones at a convoy of PPP activists on their way to a party function, he said.

The local police plan to increase security in areas bordering other regencies in anticipation of possible fresh riots.

The political climate in Java is heightening in the run-up to the May 29 election. PPP, Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) will campaign from April 27 to May 23.

PPP has been accused of spreading riots in Wonosobo, Banjarnegara and Pekalongan.

Central Java PPP deputy secretary Harminto Agustono said he had evidence that the riots were not triggered by his party's activists but people paid by a certain party to stir up chaos.

"I am sure the incidents were started by paid recidivists," he said. "It's hard to imagine PPP cadres attacking fellow cadres and their property."

A PPP fact finding team found last week that the riot in Wonosobo was started by ex-convicts who attacked PPP activists without reason.

Harminto urged the Central Java police command to investigate the rioting.

Meanwhile, scores of Semarang PPP activists created minor unrest Monday on their way home from a gathering. The activists harassed motorists and hit parked cars in the streets with sticks.

In Pekalongan, where riots gripped the town from March 24 to March 26, police and citizens have intensified night patrols.

"The citizens' role is very important to maintain security and order," Pekalongan police chief Col. Solichin said. (har/pan)