Farouk Arnaz – Police are calling on activists in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, who fled detention when a mob set fire to a government building and stormed another facility to return to custody.
They also want the so-called provocateurs who led the rampage to turn themselves in. "Of course there will be legal sanctions," National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said in Jakarta on Friday.
"But we ask them to give themselves up. And that goes for the detainees who fled or who were carried off by the protesters. We have their names, after all. "We'll see what happens over the next few days. We'll try persuasion first."
Thousands of residents demanding that officials revoke a decree granting gold mining rights to an Australian-backed company burned down the Bima district office on Thursday. Several motorcycles and cars were damaged in the incident as well.
The mob also went to a nearby police detention facility and forced authorities there to release 35 people who had been arrested during a similar protest at Sape Port on Dec. 24.
Despite a strong police presence in Bima on Thursday, with about 850 officers deployed, no arrests were made during the violent rampage. According to Boy, the police were overwhelmed by the protesters, who numbered in the thousands.
Protesters started gathering at about 9:30 a.m., and there was no sign that they intended to destroy property, he said. However, they became increasingly frustrated around midday when it became clear the district head would not meet them.
Officers may have reluctant to respond with any kind of force on Thursday after they shot and killed three people during the protest at Sape Port, sparking a wave of condemnation and several investigations. Those killings were found to be probable human rights violations by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
Demonstrations continued on a smaller scale on Friday. Dozens of protesters from the Anti-Mining Community Alliance visited the governor's office in the provincial capital, Mataram. They demanded the governor take a stronger line to support the residents of five subdistricts in Bima who are opposed to mining on their land.
"We have come here to ask Governor Zainul Majdi to meet us and make a firm statement to the recalcitrant Bima district head, Ferry Zulkarnain, who refuses to revoke the permit he issued," said a spokesman for the group, Arif. "We want peace, and this is a peaceful protest."
Meanwhile, the central government has put in writing a request to the Bima district head to take steps to permanently halt the operations of the Australian company at the center of the conflict.
Thamrin Sihite, director general of minerals and coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said the ministry had issued an official recommendation that gold exploration by Sumber Mineral Nusantara and Australian-listed Arc Exploration's joint venture be stopped permanently.
"The recommendation, a copy of which was also sent to the governor of West Nusa Tenggara, was sent on January 26, 2012," he said.
Even before protesters began staking out his office and the ministry issued the letter, the governor had called on the district head to revoke the mining license.
It is not clear if the central government's recommendation, even if it were adopted by Ferry, the Bima district head, would be enough to satisfy the protesters, who have been calling for a complete revocation of the joint venture's license.
[Additional reporting from Made Arya Kencana, Fitri R. & Antara.]