The Jakarta Post, November 14, 2005
Police, TNI spilt over Poso slaying
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The police said they would continue their investigation into five men who are
suspected of being responsible for the recent beheadings of three schoolgirls in Poso,
Central Sulawesi, despite a move by the local military to release them.
The Army's 714th Battalion reportedly released on Saturday the five men, four civilians
and a retired military police officer, who were arrested last week due to a lack of
evidence and because the seven-day detention period without charges allowed under
the antiterror law was over.
It is not immediately clear why the Army did not hand over the five men to the police
as required by the law to launch a proper investigation.
"The investigation is still going on. But we cannot rush into declaring them (the five
men) suspects," Central Sulawesi Police chief Oegroseno was quoted by Antara as
saying on Saturday.
"We need more evidence before naming them (the five men) as suspects, including a
complete report from the forensic laboratory in Jakarta which is currently conducting
blood tests. We will then examine the laboratory's findings in the light of other
evidence we found at the (crime) sites," he added.
Two weeks ago, the Army's 714th Battalion, which is stationed in Rononuncu in Poso
city, launched a two-day operation in connection with the recent beheadings of three
Christian schoolgirls in an apparent attempt to reignite sectarian conflict in Poso.
During the operation, which was held separately in Poso and the town of Ampana in
Tojo Una-Una regency, some 200 kilometers east of Poso, the soldiers arrested five
people, including Tony Mowala alias Rinto, 51, a former military police officer.
The other four are Irfan Anjiro, 23, a security guard, Jamiluddin alias Jamil, 25, also a
security guard, Ridwan Masero, 25, a farmer and Saleman Yunus alias Herman, 28, a
motorcycle taxi driver.
Poso, has witnessed sectarian violence in recent years.
More than 1,000 people were killed in a bloody sectarian conflict between Muslims
and Christians between 2000 and 2001. The residents have also seen sporadic bomb
attacks, assassinations, and assaults, the latest of which happened late last week
involving another student and a teacher of a local junior high school.
Meanwhile, a rights activist has questioned the arrest of the five men by the Army
saying "it is against the law".
"I'm questioning the arrest by the servicemen of the five men because it is against the
law. The military is not authorized to arrest civilians. Even the antiterror law has said
that the military should hand over suspected terrorists to the police immediately after
arrest," said Usman Hamid, a coordinator of the National Commission for Missing
Persons and Victims of the Violence (Kontras).
Usman further questioned why the five men were kept in the battalion's camp for the
seven days, leaving the police with no access to question them.
"I believe that within the last seven days, there was no legal process taken against
the five, and I see that the military were intent on taking advantage of legal loopholes,"
Usman said.
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