The Jakarta Post, April 21, 2005
Three students hospitalized after Ambon police raid
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon
Ambon police officers stormed the Pattimura University campus and attacked
students there on Wednesday after a minor quarrel, leaving at least 10 students
injured, three of whom had to be admitted to a local hospital after suffering serious
injuries.
The attack began around 7:30 a.m, when several students calling themselves the
"student regiment" decided to set up a checkpoint to search all students and
passersby in front of the campus, which is located in downtown Ambon. The
checkpoint was ostensibly set up to prevent anybody from bringing into the campus
compound flags or banners of the independence-minded South Maluku Republic
(RMS), which will commemorate its 55th anniversary on April 25.
The regiments searches initially were uneventful, until a police officer entered the
university compound. Second Brig. Dominggus Maspaitella arrived on campus as he
was dropping off his fiance Vivi Kakisina, a student at the school.
A member of the student regiment told him to stop, but he refused and instead
quickly sped past on his motorcycle into the campus, saying he was in a hurry. After
dropping off Vivi, Dominggus again had to pass by the entrance gate of the university,
but he was stopped and held by the self-appointed campus cops. A quarrel ensued
and the officer managed to free himself and speed away on his motorcycle.
Dominggus arrived back on campus an hour later, but this time he had with him 10
fellow police officers.
The officers then began, by some accounts, running amok on the school grounds,
kicking and beating several members of the student regiment and other students with
the barrels or stocks of their rifles.
Deputy dean of the Law School, Janes Leatemia, attempted to calm down the angry
police officers, but one of them pointed a rifle at him. "When I asked him what was
going on here, one policeman pointed his gun at me and said that there was no
problem here," said Janes.
Jemy Ukalele, a regular student and not a member of the group checking for RMS
flags, said that he was wrongly targeted and was beaten up. He said that he was
attending a laboratory session, and upon hearing the uproar outside, his curiosity led
him to go check it out. "But, suddenly I was hit in my back by a policeman, who
kicked me several times after I was down," said Jemy. After kicking and beating the
students, the police officers hauled one member of the student regiment, Alex
Rumahrupute, down to the station house for questioning.
The incident greatly upset many students and lecturers at the university. So, two
hours after the beatings, an estimated 100 students and several lecturers, riding three
buses, descended upon the office of the Maluku Governor to express their utter
disgruntlement over the police attack, but the governor was not in his office.
A similar police raid occurred last year in Makassar, South Sulawesi, when police
officers raided the Muslim University there, leaving dozens of students injured. The
incident led to the firing of Insp. Gen. Jusuf Manggabarani, the chief of the South
Sulawesi provincial police.
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
