LAKSAMANA.Net, July 20, 2004 03:31 PM
Police Chief Urged to Quit Over Church Attack
Laksamana.Net - Central Sulawesi Police chief Brigadier General Taufik Ridha has
been urged to resign over his failure to stop religious violence in the province, where
gunmen on Sunday (18/7/04) shot dead a female minister and wounded four girls in a
church.
The Christian-based Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) on Monday called on National
Police chief General Dai Bachtiar to replace Ridha, saying he had failed to resolve a
series of deadly attacks on Christians in the province.
PDS chairman Ruyandi Hutasoit and secretary general Denny Tewu also demanded
that security authorities truthfully explain the causes of the ongoing violence and
reveal the results of their investigations.
Sunday's killings took place in the provincial capital Palu during an evening service at
the Effata Presbyterian Church.
Witnesses said about five unidentified men, some armed with automatic weapons,
rode on two motorbikes to the church, where they overpowered a guard. Three of the
men reportedly waited outside, while the two others stood at the church entrance and
opened fire.
The minister, Susianti Tinulele (29), had just completed her sermon and was killed
instantly when shot in the head. Four worshippers – all teenage girls – were
wounded, one of them critically, when shot in the eye. The attackers then sped away
on their motorbikes.
Local police said some of the gunmen had long hair but covered their faces under
caps or helmets.
In Jakarta, Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno said the gunmen were attempting to
re-ignite religious conflict in Central Sulawesi.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri said the government was trying to find the
perpetrators and urged the public stay alert to maintain political stability and security
ahead of the September 20 run-off presidential election.
An estimated 2,000 people were killed the province 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.
Hutasoit urged police to reveal the progress of their investigation into the murder.
He also asked for a thorough explanation of the November 2003 killing in Poso of
three Christians: provincial church leader/local PDS chairman Oranye Tajoja, Yohanis
Tajoja, and Delfis Lingkuliwa. The three were hacked to death by a mob of Muslims
after police had gunned down a Muslim man suspected of involvement in the October
attacks on Christian villages.
Protection & Provocation
Hutasoit said police must provide better protection to Christians so they can attend
church services without fear of further attacks.
He also appealed to Christians not to carry out revenge attacks against Muslims. "We
call on all sides to keep to themselves and not to carry out acts of retaliation,
because only God has the right of retaliation," he said.
Frederik Latupeirissa, a former secretary of the Sulawesi Church Youth Commission
and presently an official of Megawati's re-election campaign team, said the
government should not only fire provincial police chief Ridha but also National Police
chief Bachtiar.
He said the police must be replaced because they have failed to ensure that
Christians can peacefully perform their religious rituals.
Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) chairman Nathan Setiabudi on Tuesday
said the church shootings were a purely criminal matter and not religiously motivated.
"We appeal to churchgoers to exercise self-restraint and not be incited or provoked by
the action," he said after a meeting in Jakarta with Megawati and Hutasoit.
More Security
National Police spokesman Inspector General Paiman on Tuesday said officers would
be deployed at churches and mosques in Central Sulawesi in an effort to prevent more
attacks.
He was unable to say whether any progress has been made in tracking down the
Effata Church attackers. Nor could he say whether the shootings were linked to the
murder of the prosecutor.
But he said National Police headquarters had sent a team of detectives and
intelligence officers to Palu to investigate the shootings and produce sketches of the
killers based on descriptions from witnesses.
"From the information of witnesses, especially the security guard and members of the
congregation, we will try to make sketches of the [attackers'] faces to facilitate the
investigation," he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
Bachtiar, who visited Palu on Monday, said police were working hard to find the
killers. He said it was too early to say whether the shootings were connected to last
October's murders. "This is still being investigated. What's clear so far is that police
have ascertained the perpetrators have long hair and sharp features. They are
uncivilized and brutal," he said.
'Excessive Terrorism'
Former coordinating minister for people's welfare Jusuf Kalla, who helped arrange the
2001 Malino peace accord, on Monday described the church shootings as
"excessive" and an act of "terrorism".
"This incident was excessive because people carrying out their religious activity were
killed," he was quoted as saying by detikcom.
Kalla, who has extensive business interests in South Sulawesi province, is the
running mate of presidential frontrunner, former security minister Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, who will face off against Megawati in the September election.
Kalla expressed hope police would soon solve the shootings. "Terrorism like this must
be resolved in line with the law, because the regional security problem could disrupt
national security."
He rejected claims the shootings were an effort to discredit him in order to damage
Yudhoyono's presidential bid. "Oh no, because I was the originator of peace in Poso,
whereas this happened in Palu."
Financial Support from Megawati
Megawati sent Religious Affairs Minister Said Agil Munawar to Palu on Tuesday to
provide financial support to the victims of the church shooting.
After arriving on a Bouraq Airlines flight at 11.45am, the minister visited the victims
being treated at the city's Bala Keselamatan Hospital and Budi Agung Hospital to
hand over the financial assistance.
He then visited a funeral parlor where Tinulele's body is being kept and gave money to
relatives of the slain minister.
Munawar declined to mention how much money the president had provided but said
she was extremely concerned by the shootings.
"The president has asked police to seriously solve this case. The president hopes this
will be the last case of its kind and not be repeated. This was an uncivilized action
carried out by irreligious people," he was quoted as saying by detikcom.
Provocateur
Vice President Hamzah Haz also expressed concern over the church attack, saying it
was the work of a provocateur seeking to incite violence between different religious
groups.
"There is a provocateur wanting to pit one religious group against another in an effort
to divide the nation ahead of the presidential election," he said without mentioning any
names.
He urged police to remain alert in conflict areas to prevent violence from spreading
across the country. "The National Police must continue to be on stand by, not just
being defensive, but must be offensive, to guard security. I'm worried this might spread
and disrupt national stability."
Victim Transferred to Surabaya
Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Victor D. Batara said Tuesday one of the girls
injured in the attack would be transferred to a hospital in the East Java capital of
Surabaya for better treatment.
He said Besriyanti (18), a senior high school student, was still in a critical condition
after being shot in her left eye.
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