Police Confirm Not All Deaths Gunshot Fatalities

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Debris and trash litter Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta on May 22, 2019, as rioters throw rocks and set off firecrackers at the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu). The postelection demonstration, which began peacefully, descended into violence during the night and continued through May, 21.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The National Police have confirmed that the fatal victims of the May 21-22 riots were not all gunshot fatalities. Some of the deaths were caused by blunt force trauma, which could have been due to rocks that other protesters threw or police beatings.

The victims did not come from a single group, but from several regions. It is believed possible that they did not know each other. Ballistic trauma was found to be the cause of deaths in some cases.

“We cannot conclude this matter right now. We still need to wait for the investigation and ballistic tests of the weapons [confiscated] from the crime scene,” National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said on Thursday (13/6/2019) after a police assembly at National Monument (Monas) Square in Jakarta. The assembly was held to reconsolidate the police force following the Operasi Ketupat 2019 security operation for Idul Fitri and ahead of the election dispute resolution.

Tito said that the police would look into the motives of the officers who fired bullets during the riots, whether it was self-defense or the use of excessive force. It could also be that a third party might have fired the shots during the riots.

Tito said that it was more difficult to investigate the gunshot fatalities without the trajectory, unless videos or photos emerged that showed where the shots came from. Even so, it would remain difficult to determine whether the bullets fired were rubber or live bullets.

The calibers of the two projectiles found at the scene of the riots were 5.56 millimeters and 9 mm. The police will be able to find out who fired the bullets from this evidence.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan (left), National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian (center), and Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Air Chief Marshal Gen. Hadi Tjahjanto (right) attend a police assembly on Thursday (13/6/2019) at National Monument Square in Central Jakarta. The assembly, which was held to consolidate the police force following Operasi Ketupat 2019 and to ready them to secure the Constitutional Court, also saw the attendance of public order officers, health workers, firefighters and other emergency personnel. Around 17,000 police officers and 16,000 soldiers have been deployed to secure the Constitutional Court during the election dispute resolution.

Internal investigation

At National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Muhammad Iqbal said at the National Police headquarters on Thursday that nine people were killed during the 21-22 May riots in Jakarta. The police are continuing with their internal investigation into the case using scientific methods, and includes establishing the identity of the shooters.

The internal investigation team, led by National Police general supervisory inspector (Irwasum) Comr. Gen. Moechgiyarto, is focusing on determining the cause of the deaths during the riots as well as the cause of the riots. The team is investigating how the rioters arrived at the crime scene, where they came from and how they were connected to the figures deemed to be behind the riots.

Iqbal said that most of the nine victims were believed to have died from gunshot wounds. Victim identification was ongoing, and forensic tests and ballistic tests were required to identify the weapons that fired the fatal shots.

The shooters were believed to be a third party that intended to turn the peaceful demonstration into a violent clash. The allegation stemmed from two separate plots that police had uncovered: one to assassinate four state officials and a terror plot to use the demonstration for their own ends.

However, Iqbal said that the possibility still remained that police officers might have fired the fatal shots. “Please understand that the police did not attempt to quell the protest. The officers might have been attacked, as police facilities were also attacked [during the riot],” he said.

Tito said that two teams were involved in the investigation. One team was interrogating the 447 individuals who were arrested to determine whether the riots were organized. This first team would submit a dossier to the Prosecutors’ Office. The second team was questioning both police and civilian victims. This second team was working in tandem with the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) chair Asfinawati said that the police should immediately announce its results when nine fatal victims had been identified. Asfinawati expressed her hope that the police would publicize the data it had gathered on the violence that occurred during the riots, including any violence that involved police officers.

“The National Police must uphold the law against those that committed violence. The law must be upheld indiscriminately, no matter the individual’s background,” she said.

Such transparency, she said, would prove the police’s accountable and balanced stance, apart from pursuing its law enforcement duties in other cases, such as the cases of alleged treason and attacks on police officers.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Police in riot gear stand their ground at the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) on May 22, 2019 as protesters approach them on Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta. The postelection demonstration, which began peacefully, descended into violence with rioters throwing rocks and setting off firecrackers.

No rioter

Agus Salim, 49, of Petamburan, West Jakarta, the father of Muhammad Raihan Fajari, 15, who was killed in the postelection riot, stressed that his son was not a rioter. Raihan was at work at Jakarta’s Al Istiqamah Mosque at around 2 a.m. on 22 May 2019. Raihan and a friend went to Jl. KS Tubun after they heard that there was a riot going on.

“My son and his friend were about to leave the scene as it was becoming unsafe. He was shot as he was heading home,” Agus said at his residence on Thursday.

Raihan was still breathing after he was shot, but he was unconscious. He was first taken to Al Barokah Mosque, and then to the Mintohardjo Naval Hospital, where he died. Raihan’s family has not received a copy of his autopsy.

Separately, Syafri Alamsyah, 58, the father of Farhan Syafero, 31, another fatal victim, urged the government to provide care to Farhan’s two children, aged 5 and 2. “Farhan died with a wound in his lower neck that goes through to his back. The wounds in his neck and back were of the same size,” said Syafri.

Nurwarsito, 42, the father of Adam Nooryan, 18, who was killed during the riot in Tanah Abang, said he was sure his son was not a rioter. Adam had gone to the location of the riot without his parents’ knowledge.

With regard to the case surrounding Maj. Gen. (ret.) Kivlan Zen, which is believed connected to Comr. Gen. (ret.) Sofjan Yacoeb, the National Police chief said that the investigation was uncomfortable for the police. However, the law needed to be followed. Kivlan’s case was separate from the case of Maj. Gen. (ret.) Soenarko.

(SAN/WAD/JOG/RTS)