The Jakarta Globe, Oct 14, 2014
Jakarta. The city’s acting governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has told his security staff that they are to shoot any demonstrators who become violent and are armed with either a gun or a sharp weapon. Jakarta Police followed suit — the deputy chief of the force saying his officers would “shoot to disable” anyone turning up to a protest with a sharp weapon.
“We hope there’ll be no tolerance for those igniting riots,” Basuki said, as quoted by Kompas.com. “I’ve told my guards that if there are one or two [protesters] carrying machetes that they are to shoot them directly.”
The acting governor’s comments stem from a riot outside the City Council building on Oct. 3 by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). Several police officers were injured by members of the FPI, at least one of whom turned up to the demonstration with a large sword. The protesters were trying to force the city government to cancel the upcoming inauguration of Basuki, whom the group has labeled an “arrogant non-Muslim.”
In addition to unleashing his lawyers on the FPI, Basuki has said that a network of CCTV cameras will make it easier to prevent the kind of violent demonstration that occurred on Oct. 3. How useful these cameras turn out to be in practice remains to be seen given that countries where CCTV is ubiquitous rarely find the quality of images good enough to aid any prosecution.
“We will also add kevlar vests for members of the public order agency who are in the field,” Basuki said. “We don’t want any officers getting injured. The CCTV will help.”
The deputy chief of Jakarta Police, Brig. Gen. Sudjarno, pledged to support the crackdown against violent protesters.
“We’re doing it — we will take serious action against any kind of crime, including thuggery and theft,” Sudjarno said. “We will shoot to disable perpetrators who are putting people in danger. What should we do? We will disable them.”
“When there’s thuggery, we have to be strict,” Sudjarno added.
(and about time too,! siK)
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di 14 okt 2014 - 21:41