Police deny failure in Ampera brawl

Despite the deaths of three people during Wednesday’s clash near the South Jakarta District Court building, the city police claimed they had done their best to safeguard the area.

“The police had tried to control the fight from turning into a brawl,” City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said Thursday.

The fact that some police officers, including South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Gatot Eddy Pramono, were injured showed the police’s efforts to control the situation, Boy said.

“There were efforts to stem the violence. Otherwise, there would have been more casualties,” he said.

On Wednesday afternoon, a clash between two rival groups erupted before the third trial session of a brawl at the upscale Blowfish Kitchen and Bar in South Jakarta in April, in which two people were killed. The incident forced the trial session to be delayed until next week.

The previous session last week was also marred by violence as defendants Karnos Lolo and Bernardus Malela were attacked by several people after the session. In anticipation of any unexpected incident, the police on Wednesday deployed 286 police officers.

Despite their presence, dozens of people from two different gangs from Flores and Ambon fought each other with machetes, blades, handmade guns and rocks on Jl. Ampera Raya just outside the court building.

“The incident occurred on the street, which is a public place. These groups came to the scene aboard public buses. You have to understand that thousands of cars travel along that street everyday,” Boy said.

“Such a conflict could happen anywhere,” he said.

He said that one man had been named suspect and arrested for possessing a sharp weapon. The police were still questioning the suspect and investigating the case.

“We have not yet established what group he is from. All we know is that he was spotted at the scene with a sharp weapon,” he said, adding that police on Wednesday night questioned six witnesses.

“We have also confiscated three sharp weapons and taken bullet casings from the scene. We are still examining them,” he added.

The police have repeatedly come under fire for their failure to provide security in the city.

In April, a brawl erupted in Koja, North Jakarta, between residents and the public order officers with more than 200 people injured and three public order officers killed.

Despite the possibility that the dispute between the two gangs might continue next week during the third trial session, the South Jakarta District Court will not move the session to the South Jakarta police office as previously planned.

“We will hold the next session here on Oct. 6 as the court is the legitimate place to hold trials.
The police did not want us to hold the session in their office to avoid public suspicion of an unjust trial,” Kamari, the court’s security coordinator said.

The decision was made following a meeting on Thursday morning involving the court officials, the South Jakarta police deputy chief, the Pasar Minggu police subprecinct chief, the commander of the South Jakarta 0504 Military District Command and the South Jakarta Mayor.

According to Kamari, his office, which has 40 security personnel, requested around 300 police officers to stand guard next week. He added that the mayor also promised to deploy public order officers there. (ipa)