Stop soccer hooliganism: City police
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata yesterday called on authorities outside Jakarta to be selective when sending soccer fans to the capital to watch their home teams play.
Some officials actively encourage people to travel to Jakarta to support their teams.
"By being selective, we hope that supporters from cities outside Jakarta will no longer turn to vandalism, brawling and other offenses during their stay in this city," the two-star general said.
After Friday's semifinal and Sunday's final match, police announced that 27 vehicles and an automobile showroom had been vandalized by supporters from East Java and Ujungpandang following the defeat of their teams.
Witnesses said the number was much higher than the figures released by the police.
Hamami suggested that committee members of the Indonesian Soccer Association cooperate with police before setting up competition dates.
"Last Friday, for instance, we had few personnel to help supervise the match due to preparations for the Armed Forces' anniversary the next day," he said.
The semifinal was held Friday when Mitra Surabaya was beaten by Mastrans Bandung Raya, and PSM Ujungpandang beat Persipura, Jayapura.
Sunday's final match between Mastrans and PSM also witnessed rioting by PSM supporters. The incident began after PSM lost to Mastrans 0-2. The supporters, mostly clad in red T-shirts, stoned cars on Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin.
The car of the wife of the Indonesian Soccer Association's secretary-general, Nugroho Besus, was also the target of PSM supporters. She was not hurt. The supporters smashed windshields in front of the Jakarta Police Headquarters.
Several public buses had to take the fast lane to avoid the red-clad people, some of whom were involved in a fierce brawl with Mastrans supporters around the Senayan stadium.
Military troops assigned to secure the area managed to disperse the warring supporters.
On Saturday, trains taking Mitra supporters home to Surabaya were attacked by people living along the railway track on the northern coast.
According to Kompas, the destruction by Surabaya supporters on Thursday and Friday in Jakarta angered people living along the railway track in West and Central Java.
Railway company officials had announced the possible danger to passengers of the Argobromo trains bound for Surabaya. Passengers were advised not to open car windows during the trip.
The director of Perumka railway company for Greater Jakarta, Widjanarko, said on Saturday Perumka provided 3,715 tickets for Mitra supporters at Senen railway station in Jakarta to Pasar Turi station in Surabaya.
It cost Rp 50 billion and Governor Basofi Sudirman promised to pay for it, he said.
More than 50 cars were damaged in the two days' riots.
Hamami Nata said yesterday that the police arrested eight supporters and are questioning 63 others for their alleged roles in last week's mass brawls and vandalism.
Half of the arrested supporters are from Surabaya and the remaining half from Ujungpandang.
The supporters of Mitra Surabaya have been identified as Aries Iskandar, Abdullah Imran, Sunarno and Mulyono. The fans from the PSM Ujungpandang are Rudi Rifai, Iwan Salam, Wawan Zulkarnaen and Sudarma.
The police seized knives and handmade arrows from them. (bsr/sur)