Conflicting Statements On Heels of Shooting in Sioyong
Fidelis E. Satriastanti
The Central Sulawesi Police are investigating the shooting of two villagers in Sioyong, Donggala district, on Wednesday.
Ramang Datu Adam, 35, and Safrudin, 30, were shot in the legs during a clash between villagers and police personnel, most members of the Mobile Brigade. The two are being treated at a local hospital and police have promised to pay for their medication.
“We are still investigating the incident to make sure that the shooting accorded with standard operating procedures,” Central Sulawesi Police Chief Suparni Parto said on Thursday. “Of course, we will evaluate the incident thoroughly.”
For the past month, Sioyong residents have been staging protests against Asean Tunggal Mandiri, a contractor appointed by the government to build dams for beach rehabilitation projects. The villagers allege that the company quarried stones and sand at the Sioyong River and that its activities damaged their crops.
Suparni said the confrontation between villagers and police on Wednesday got out of control as the crowd of protestors swelled.
“They were throwing rocks at police personnel, hurting two of them,” he said. “Some of the farmers even brought machetes.”
Yusran, a villager leading the rally, refuted the officer’s statement, saying that the villagers never put up any resistance toward the police and that they were shot at without warning.
“The villagers were not armed and we did not put up a fight. But around 7 p.m. [the police] began to fire at us,” he said. “The next thing we knew two villagers were down and yelling ‘I am hit’.”
Yusran said the villagers’ demands were simple — that Asean Tunggal halt work in the area.
“They are worried about the long-term impact of the activities because there were landslides and floods even before the company started to dig,” he said.
Sinung Karto of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or Kontras, regretted that Mobile Brigade members were deployed to control the incident, and said the police should investigate the case and publish their findings to ease tensions among villagers.
“It is really strange that the Mobile Brigade would step into the brawl and fire on the villagers because there were several procedures the brigade could have tried instead. Why didn’t they try persuasive tactics first?”
Suparni said the Mobile Brigade had “followed procedure in terms of negotiation, but the crowd was getting larger — about 200 people. Meanwhile, we only had 30 officers.” He said that the officers had aimed at protestors’ legs and used rubber bullets.
Conflicting Statements On Heels of Shooting in Sioyong
Fidelis E. Satriastanti
The Central Sulawesi Police are investigating the shooting of two villagers in Sioyong, Donggala district, on Wednesday.
Ramang Datu Adam, 35, and Safrudin, 30, were shot in the legs during a clash between villagers and police personnel, most members of the Mobile Brigade. The two are being treated at a local hospital and police have promised to pay for their medication.
“We are still investigating the incident to make sure that the shooting accorded with standard operating procedures,” Central Sulawesi Police Chief Suparni Parto said on Thursday. “Of course, we will evaluate the incident thoroughly.”
For the past month, Sioyong residents have been staging protests against Asean Tunggal Mandiri, a contractor appointed by the government to build dams for beach rehabilitation projects. The villagers allege that the company quarried stones and sand at the Sioyong River and that its activities damaged their crops.
Suparni said the confrontation between villagers and police on Wednesday got out of control as the crowd of protestors swelled.
“They were throwing rocks at police personnel, hurting two of them,” he said. “Some of the farmers even brought machetes.”
Yusran, a villager leading the rally, refuted the officer’s statement, saying that the villagers never put up any resistance toward the police and that they were shot at without warning.
“The villagers were not armed and we did not put up a fight. But around 7 p.m. [the police] began to fire at us,” he said. “The next thing we knew two villagers were down and yelling ‘I am hit’.”
Yusran said the villagers’ demands were simple — that Asean Tunggal halt work in the area.
“They are worried about the long-term impact of the activities because there were landslides and floods even before the company started to dig,” he said.
Sinung Karto of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or Kontras, regretted that Mobile Brigade members were deployed to control the incident, and said the police should investigate the case and publish their findings to ease tensions among villagers.
“It is really strange that the Mobile Brigade would step into the brawl and fire on the villagers because there were several procedures the brigade could have tried instead. Why didn’t they try persuasive tactics first?”
Suparni said the Mobile Brigade had “followed procedure in terms of negotiation, but the crowd was getting larger — about 200 people. Meanwhile, we only had 30 officers.” He said that the officers had aimed at protestors’ legs and used rubber bullets.