T

ensions in Rengas, Ogan Ilir regency, North Sumatra were still high Saturday following a riot by local residents in a dispute with state plantation company PTPN VII the day before.

Residents expressed fears that members of their community would be arrested by the local police, especially after the police announced the riots may have been staged. Residents also said they feared a possible backlash by the plantation company.

"We did not incite the riots. There is no leader or follower in the incident. The movement was by and for all the villagers. We are not the cause of the riot as what we did was in reaction to what the Brimob *Police Mobile Brigade Unit* and the company's security guards had done to us," Hasibuan, 50, a resident, said.

Residents said tensions were high in the sub-district, located 80 kilometers from the provincial capital of Palembang, especially since more police personnel had been deployed to the PTPN VII company grounds.

Detritus from the riot was apparent Saturday with cartridge cases believe to belong to Brimob officers strewn across the ground.

PTPN VII claimed they suffered financial losses of around Rp 25 billion (US$2.6 million) because of the riot.

The tent set up by the police and military personnel was no longer in place, but around 60 Brimob personnel could still be seen guarding the location.

The director of the South Sumatra branch of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), Eti Gustina, condemned the incident, saying it was inappropriate for law enforcement officers, who were supposed to be neutral, to commit violence against the people they had taken an oath to defend.

"It's very humiliating and completely unprofessional. They are struggling for their rights and deserve to be protected. It's a violation of their human rights," she said Sunday.

Eleven villagers were wounded when local Brimob and provincial police officers fired on them in an excessively violent attempt to disperse a riot Friday.

Three PTPN VII Cinta Manis employees sustained knife wounds in the incident.

South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin expressed concern over the bloody incident and urged all parties involved to resolve the problem like gentlemen. He also called on the Ogan Ilir regency administration to take steps to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.