The Jakarta Post, March 07, 2006
Police officer questioned over clash in Ambon
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Ambon
An Ambon Police officer was questioned Monday following a clash between police
and military personnel which sparked a weekend of violence in which two people died.
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto said Monday the clash
between several soldiers and police officers last week was triggered by individual
problems and had nothing to do with any perceived rivalry between the military and the
police.
"It was unplanned," he said on the sidelines of a meeting with House of
Representatives Commission I on defense.
He described the men involved as "teenagers who are still emotional".
There has been a series of conflicts between the military and the police since the
separation of the police from the TNI at the beginning of the reform movement in 1998.
In Ambon, chief of the Maluku Police's security unit, Adj. Sr. Comr. I Wayan
Suparman, said Chief Brig. Imanuel Mahise was questioned over his alleged
involvement in the beating of a soldier, First Brig. Aprisol A. Luik, last Friday.
The clash allegedly started when Aprisol, who was on his way home to Teluk Ambon
Baguala, stopped his motorcycle outside the office of the paramilitary police (Brimob)
unit in Tantui. Imanuel is alleged to have approached and attacked the soldier, and
was allegedly soon joined by other police officers.
Aprisol ran to a nearby police post, where he was picked up by members of his unit
and taken to the army hospital.
Following the incident, two men -- a police officer on Friday and a soldier on Saturday
-- were stabbed to death. A university studdent was seriously injured after police
officers allegedly fired shots into a crowd on Saturday.
The tension subsided Monday after a team from the National Police and TNI
Headquarters was deployed to Ambon to deal with the matter.
Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Adityawarman said Monday the investigation into the
cases would involve officers from both the TNI and the National Police.
"The joint investigation will gather information and we will discuss it together," he said.
He blamed the weekend's tension on Friday's incident.
"It started with the stabbing and went on and on. The police officer who started this
will be punished," Adityawarman said.
Separately, Col. M. Jayusman, who heads the military police at the Pattimura Military
Command, told The Jakarta Post on Monday that so far no soldiers had been arrested
over the violence.
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