LAKSAMANA.Net, August 4, 2004 07:45 PM
Palu Police Officer Fired for Wrongful Arrest
Laksamana.Net - A senior police officer in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu has
been demoted for the wrongful shooting and arrest of a man in connection with last
month's murder of a female minister at a church in the city.
Palu Police operations division chief Commissioner Ricky Naldo was dismissed from
his position on Wednesday (4/7/04), said Central Sulawesi Police chief Brigadier
General Taufik Ridha.
Naldo and two other officers arrested Bambang (27) on July 29 during a raid on a
house in Betue village, North Lore district. During the arrest he was shot in the
buttocks and punched on the face.
The officers had mistakenly thought Bambang was involved in the July 18 shooting to
death of the Reverend Susianti Tinulele (29) at Palu's Effata Presbyterian Church.
Unidentified gunmen also shot and wounded four worshippers, all teenage girls, during
the attack.
Bambang was released on Sunday after his family, colleagues and witnesses said he
was not involved in the church shooting.
Ridha apologized for the wrongful arrest, asking Bambang, his family and the public to
forgive police for their "mistake". He said police had mistaken Bambang for another
man of same name wanted in connection with the attack.
He said Naldo would be transferred to a position at Central Sulawesi Police
headquarters, while the two other officers who carried out the wrongful arrest were still
being investigated.
Bambang on Monday said he had forgiven the police for the heavy-handed wrongful
arrest, because they might have been suffering fatigue due to the pressure of their
hunt for suspects in the church shooting. But members of his family and the Institute
for Legal Development Studies and Human Rights (LPS-HAM) said they would sue
police.
Suspect Arrested Over Shooting of Cigarette Salesman
In a separate case in Central Sulawesi, police said Wednesday they had arrested a
man in connection with this week's shooting of Jhonly Tumbelaka, a sales
representative for Djarum brand cigarettes.
Unidentified gunmen on Tuesday opened fire on Tumbelaka in Kertajati village, Parigi
Moutong regency, about 175 kilometers east of Palu. The victim reportedly suffered
only a minor wound when a bullet grazed his nose.
Detikcom online news portal quoted Ridha as saying the suspect, identified only by
his single initial 'S', had told police the attack was carried out by six men, three of
whom had been armed with pistols.
Ridha said police are hunting for the rest of the attackers, while a team of Mobile
Brigade police officers had also been sent to the area in an effort to prevent further
attacks.
Lingering Violence
An estimated 2,000 people were killed Central Sulawesi in clashes between
Christians and Muslims over 2000-2001. The violence was a side-effect of sectarian
violence in the neighboring Maluku islands, where about 8,000 people were killed over
1999-2002. Much of the violence was blamed on Java-based militant Islamic group
Laskar Jihad and feuding factions of the Indonesian Defense Forces.
The government in December 2001 sponsored a peace deal, called the Malino
Accord, that largely put an end to the Central Sulawesi carnage, but intermittent
killings and bombings have continued, mostly targeting Christians.
In October 2003, masked gunmen killed 13 Christian villagers in the province's
Morowali and Poso districts.
The International Crisis Group has blamed the October killings on a new local Islamic
militia group, Mujahidin KOMPAK, which it said had emerged in Central Sulawesi as
an offshoot of regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah. It said most of the
attackers were locally recruited men, who had family members killed in attacks on
Muslims in May-June 2000 and were probably motivated by revenge.
Slain Prosecutor
On May 26, 2004, four long-haired gunmen on two motorbikes killed a prominent
Christian prosecutor, Ferry Silalahi, in South Palu as he was leaving an evening
church service.
Silalahi had been based in Palu for over a year and dealt with numerous cases of
corruption and terrorism. At the time of his murder he was in charge of a team of
prosecutors that was to have tried a major corruption case against Ambo Dalle,
director of the Central Sulawesi village cooperatives unit.
Prior to being posted to Palu, Silalahi had worked in Tangerang, Banten province,
western Java, where he successfully prosecuted the country's biggest ecstasy
manufacturer, Ang Kiem Soei, who was sentenced to death in January 2003.
Police have arrested one suspect in the murder of Silalahi, a 24-year old man named
Emil, who denies any wrongdoing. Police have said Emil is not the prime suspect, but
claim he knew about the murder plan and failed to inform authorities. Emil is suing
police for wrongful arrest.
A soldier was arrested in June in connection with the killing but released a day later
due to a lack of evidence.
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