Police defend members in Bima incident

Written By Onepaper on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 | 11:39 PM


The National Police defended its members who were on duty at the deadly incident in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, saying a thorough investigation into the incident was now in progress.

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said the investigation would focus on who started the shooting.

“Nothing wrong happened at the Sape Seaport, when the police were trying to remove demonstrators. There was sporadic shooting coming from between 700 and 900 meters from the seaport,” the police chief said, adding that the government was still investigating who started the shooting and why.

Timur said the police at the seaport carried out their tasks based on the commands of city and district police chiefs.

Separately, Police have named 56 Bima residents and five West Nusa Tenggara Police officers as suspects in the clash that took place between protesters and authorities at Sape port on Dec. 24, 2011. The 56 residents are now in police custody.

“We are handling 56 residents who have been named suspects in the Bima clash,” National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution said at his office in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

He also said that police had named two officer suspects in the Bima clash, adding to the three police officers previously named in the same case. “The two officers [most recently named suspects] come from the Bima Police, First Brig. A and First Brig. MS,” Saud said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

“We will bring all five [police] suspects to a disciplinary court in the near future,” he said.

Police had earlier indicted First Brig. F and First. Brig. S, both of whom are members of the Bima Police, and Second Brig. F from the West Nusa Tenggara Mobile Brigade.

Saud also said police were continuing their investigation to determine if bullets that killed and injured residents during the clash matched those used by authorities.

“We recovered eight rubber bullets from the bodies of victims who were injured and are now being treated in a hospital in Bima. We will determine what kind of weapon was used,” he said.

The clash began when a number of residents, citing environmental concerns, demonstrated against the Bima administration by blocking the road to Sape port, demanding the revocation of a mining permit issued to PT Sumber Mineral Nusantara.

Two residents from Suni village, identified as Arif Rahman, 18, Syaiful, 17, and a West Nusa Tenggara Muhammadiyah University student, Immawan Ashary, died as a result of the clash.
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