Team set up to probe Nomensen case

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): North Sumatra Police chief Brig. Gen. Sutanto vowed on Wednesday to investigate the bloody clash which claimed the lives of two Nomensen Christian University students on Monday.

He said a special team had been established to conduct the investigation. "The team will find out if there was a procedural error or anything relating to the fatal clash between the students and the police."

Meanwhile, North Sumatra Police spokesman Lt. Col. Amrin Karim said the university's plan to file a lawsuit against the police over the death of the students was understandable. "Who wouldn't file a lawsuit in the face of such an incident?"

"But we also have evidence collected from the site, and police were not reckless in their actions. The assault began after the students took a policeman hostage as he passed in front of the campus," Amrin said. "That forced other police officers to enter the campus."

"There will be no cover-up of this case. The police always respect the law," he said.

University rector Ericson Simarmata said earlier he planned to sue the North Sumatra Police chief for the incident. Two students, identified as Kelvin Nababan and Rikardo Silitonga, were shot dead and a number of others injured in the clash.

Simarmata also said he would sue the chief of the East Medan Police over a beating he allegedly suffered at the hands of police officers during the violence. "I told the police officers several times that I was the rector, but they continued beating me."

The clash began after students rallied to protest the arrest of a fellow student, Panal Pakpahan, for gambling. Police refused to release Pakpahan, enraging the students.

In Denpasar, Bali, a number of students from Udayana University demonstrated at police headquarters against the violence in Medan.

They shouted at the officers on duty at the headquarters, calling them murderers. The students met with Denpasar Police deputy chief Col. AA Antara and demanded that the Bali Police apologize for the Medan killings.

"We are deeply concerned with the fatal clash, but we cannot fulfill your request (for an apology) because it (the incident) took place in Medan, not in Bali," Antara said. (39/zen/sur)