Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly said on Thursday that an initial investigation by Indonesia's national human rights watchdog showed that the bullets found in the bodies of people killed during last month's riots in Jakarta were of a different type than those issued to police.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Muhammad Iqbal has meanwhile confirmed that nine people had died in the May 21-22 riots.
"The National Police have formed an investigation team led by the head of Irwasum [General Supervisory Unit] to investigate the series of events on May 21-22, including the nine [deaths]," Iqbal said at a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.
"We must say that we suspect the nine victims were all rioters," he added.
Police earlier said it was still not clear who had taken the victims to hospital and where they were found.
Several commissioners of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) had seen the bodies of four suspected rioters but were also unable to determine who had taken them to hospital and where they were found.
Komnas HAM has established a fact-finding team to investigate the matter.
"I spoke with the chairman of Komnas HAM here; bullets [found in the bodies of victims], according to police, were of a different standard than those used by the National Police," Yasonna said after a hearing on Thursday with House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees national security and legal affairs.
He reiterated that members of the police and military did not carry lethal weapons during the May 21-22 protests by supporters of defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto against the result of the 2019 presidential election.
Komnas HAM chairman Ahmad Taufan Damanik said police should find those responsible for the killings.
"We understand that it is not easy to find [the shooters] because it is still not clear where the crimes were committed," Ahmad said during Thursday's hearing, as quoted by liputan6.com.