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Bekasi regency councilor is demanding that Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Unggung Cahyono investigate allegations of police brutality at a demonstration held last Friday at the MM 2100 industrial zone in Cibitung, Bekasi regency, West Java.

Nyumarno, who is a politician with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said on Monday that he had received numerous complaints from the Bekasi Workers Alliance of police officers using unnecessary force, damaging motorcycles and making groundless arrests. '€œThese people were merely staging a peaceful protest against the slow deliberation of the minimum wage. Furthermore, they were protesting rumors that the administration was going to set it at Rp 2.7 million [US$222] when they had demanded Rp 3.3 million,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

Nyumarno, who is also a leader of the Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers Unions (FSPMI), said that five workers had been arrested that day while driving on Jl. MH Thamrin Lippo Cikarang in Bekasi.

The men told Nyumarno that they were kicked and beaten by police officers before being taken in for questioning.

'€œI'€™m so confused, why were they arrested? Did they do anything to provoke violence?'€ he said.

Nyumarno added that he visited the Bekasi regency police station on the evening of the protest after the wife of one of the men arrested asked him to help her husband get medical attention. However, Nyumarno said, the police refused, telling him he had no authority at the police station.

'€œThe Jakarta Police chief must investigate these incidents and the policemen who arrested, beat and deprived these poor men of medical attention,'€ he said.

Separately, Bekasi Police operational head Comr. Muryono told the Post that necessary force had been used for several reasons, including the fact that protestors had failed to notify police ahead of the demonstration.

'€œThat is illegal. Police are obliged to serve and protect demonstrators, but these workers never told us about their protest. Furthermore, the motorcycles were knocked over because they were blocking the Cibitung 2 toll road entrance. Their actions were disturbing the locals,'€ he said.

More than 15,000 workers joined the protest, which Muryono said grew increasingly boisterous in spite of police warnings. He said several protestors stood on the hoods of cars encouraging others to resist the police and that several police officers had been injured by rocks thrown by protestors.

'€œWe only arrested those who were obviously encouraging violence. However, we eventually released them,'€ Muryono said.

'€” JP/Fedina S. Sundaryani