Rizal Harahap, Medan – North Sumatra Police have rejected allegations that police officers had conspired with protesters demanding the establishment of Tapanuli province during a violent rally on Feb. 3.
Critics say the conspiracy may have contributed to the death of the province's legislative council speaker Abdul Aziz Angkat.
"I cannot say if the police made a mistake (when safeguarding the rally) or if we did not have proper security procedures in place. The (investigating) team will evaluate that. All I can say is two officers have already been summoned to our headquarters for further investigation. We will hold an ethics hearing and listen to their statements to determine whether there were any procedural violations," North Sumatra Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Baharuddin Djafar said Saturday.
"There's no point in getting defensive. We must uphold the law objectively without any interference. We are investigating the case," he added.
National and North Sumatra police departments set up an investigative team then dismissed two officers from their posts early Saturday: the Medan Police intelligence unit chief and the Medan Baru Police precinct chief.
National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said Friday North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna and Medan Police chief Sr. Comr. Aton Suhartono would be dismissed for being "neglectful" in their duty to ensure security. Meanwhile, a fact-finding team from the House of Representatives said Friday that "early indications" pointed to a "serious" lack of security during the incident.
North Sumatra councilor Raden Syafi'i of the Reform Star Party said there were indications that the riots had been planned. "We have evidence including recordings and photographs of the riots. All eyewitnesses have spoken with the House's fact-finding team," he said.
He questioned the security blackout that coincided with the riots – all the closed circuit TV monitors stopped working – and the locking of the gates inside the council building compound.
"It's not a coincidence. How can the power have shut down just when the mob rushed into the plenary meeting room? How could the mob have locked all the gates?
"The protest coordinator had told (the police) they would deploy about 10,000 people and the police had been through a similar protest in 2007, but they failed to anticipate problems. How could a council speaker be beaten like a petty criminal?" he said.
This incident mirrors a violent protest that took place in Medan in 2007, in which police also failed to react accordingly. Then-council speaker Abdul Wahab Dalimunthe, likewise confronted by protesters demanding clarity on the Tapanuli issue, was also mobbed, but managed to be rescued.
As for last week's incident, Baharuddin said the police had only received a letter informing them a rally would be staged late Monday. "It was illegal. It was against regulations, which stipulate the police should receive an informing letter at least three days prior."
He also said the police could not easily disperse the crowd as there were four other rallies in other places. "We have to prove whether the protesters had planned the riots."
So far, police have questioned 55 people and named 20 of them as suspects. Sisingamangaraja University deputy rector Rudolf Marpaung and his seven students were named suspects, Antara reported.
The police have earlier named Chandra Panggabean, head of a committee advocating the establishment of Tapanuli province, and his deputies – FM Datumira Simanjuntak, Burhanuddin Rajagukguk and Viktor Siahaan – as well as two students, Parles Sianturi and John Eros Samosir as suspects. They will be charged with Criminal Code articles on provoking hostility and destructive acts.