Victims not to sue perpetrators in Madiun shoot out

By Tarko Sudiarno

MADIUN, East Java (JP): "This one is dead." He is not. The phrase resonates in Agung's mind.

Lying on bed with a shot wound in a hospital here, the victim of a clash between the military and the police midnight last Saturday tried to recall what he experienced that night.

"I was lying on the ground, half conscious after being shot down.

"I was aware that armed policemen were around. One of them stepped on my head to make sure if I was killed, saying 'this one is dead'", the young boy told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Members of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Airborne Infantry Battalion 501 attacked the Madiun Police station and three other police stations midnight Sept. 15.

Three teenagers were shot dead in the clash, several policemen and Army personnel were injured.

Agung and 27 others of his friends were riding on 14 motorcycles in front of the police station when live bullets were sprayed by policemen. Agung was not aware that a clash had just occurred between Kostrad troops and the police.

Agung's claim seems to conform with those of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto. In a hearing with the House of Representatives members Wednesday, Endriartono said that the three teenagers killed in the clash were shot by the police.

He said the shooting took place shortly after all Kostrad soldiers had fled the police station in downtown Madiun.

Former Madiun police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eddy Hariyanto said the teenagers were killed because they passed the police station along with infantry men who were launching a second attack.

"But nobody knows yet who fired the shots at them. We exchanged fires when the two groups approached each other in the second encounter," said Eddy Hariyanto, who was transferred to the East Java police headquarters after the incident.

Agung's parents, who were met at the city's Soedono Hospital, said they were very much relieved to see their son recuperating. They said they would not take any legal action as long as their hospital bills were paid for.

Another parent whose son was killed in the incident said he had no intention to sue the police.

"Would my son come to life again if I did so?" asked Abdul Haris, father of the now deceased Taufiq Rahman.

Two sidewalk vendors met at the city square said the clash broke out at one corner of the city's square.

This contradicted an earlier reports that said the clash was triggered by a trivial matter at a gas station close to the square.

Three Kostrad lieutenants were in a car queued up to buy gasoline at a gas station near the town square. The became upset when the two military policemen who were riding a motorcycle ignored all the vehicles lined up for gas and cut in front of their car.

The three officers and the two military policemen began to argue, which escalated when a large number of the infantry battalion members arrived at the scene and helped the military policemen.

One infantry member fired a warning shot, which did not stop the fighting and when one military policeman tried to grab his gun the policeman was shot in the leg.

A gas station worker who was on duty last Saturday night also refuted the report.

"There was no fighting here. The report was not true. The clash began at the corner of the square," he said pointing to the square about 100 meters away.

He said he was so furious about the report he made a call to a newspaper but his rebuttal was never mentioned.

Residents say the square is a favorite hang out for youths at night.

The police estimated the damage incurred by the deadly clash amounted to Rp 300 million.

Sources at the Madiun military police said the case was still being investigated.

The tense relations between Madiun police and infantry members began to ease on Friday following their joint rally at the city square. Together they repaired the damaged police stations.

Endriartono said on Wednesday hearing with legislators that part of the troop members had behaved badly in recent time. Some had succumbed to drinking alcohol even during their duty hours.

He attributed the clash between the police and the military in Madiun to the snatching of positions to protect clandestine businesses such as gambling dens and drugs trade.

Madiun police spokesman Ketut Pramana said the police had set up a joint programs with the military to ensure better relations in the future.

"We may hold sports competitions shortly between the existing forces," he said.

Pramana said he hoped such events would prevent possible frictions between security and defense units in the city.

Madiun is home to a number of police and military bases.