Rizal Harahap, Medan – 11 suspects in the death of North Sumatra Provincial Legislative Council Speaker Abdul Aziz Angkat, who died of a heart attack after being beaten by a mob Tuesday.
North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna said in Medan on Wednesday that among the 11 suspects, all of whom had acted as provocateurs, was Chandra Panggabean, who heads the committee promoting the creation of a new province called Tapanuli, which was at the center of the rally that turned on Aziz.
Other suspects include deputy chairmen of the committee FM Datumira Simanjuntak, as well as Burhanuddin Rajagukguk and Viktor Siahaan, Nanan said.
Aziz, a provincial Golkar Party leader, died of a heart attack Tuesday, hours after he was attacked outside of the council building in Medan by a mob protesting his decision to postpone a plenary session to discuss the proposal of the new province.
Nanan said police had been put on alert over fears the arrest of the committee head could provoke a backlash.
He said the postmortem had concluded Aziz had died of a heart failure. "But the results also showed there were contusions [on his body] caused by beating," he said.
As of Wednesday, no proponents of Tapanuli province were willing to discuss Aziz's death. Eron Lumban Gaol, a North Sumatra Council member who supports the creation of the new province, could not be reached for comment. Eron was questioned by the police Tuesday.
Aziz's body was buried at a Muslim cemetery on Jl. Eka Rasmi in Medan on Wednesday, despite the North Sumatra provincial offering to bury him at Bukit Barisan Hero's Cemetery. Aziz's wife, Tiornalis Siregar, rejected the offer because she wanted to be buried next to her husband.
Almost all of the members of the provincial council attended the burial. Before the burial, Aziz's body was taken to his family's house and then to Baiturahman mosque in Johor Indah in Medan for prayers.
The attack on Aziz sparked criticism from various circles, including Home Minister Mardiyanto, who said that the use of force by the protesters constituted a serious crime. He called for an intensive investigation into the case.
North Sumatra Governor Syamsul Arifin promised in his speech at the burial to take stern action against the perpetrators behind the attack on Aziz.
"Just have faith that justice will be upheld, the investigation into the case will not be half-hearted. This should prove to be the first and last such incident ever in North Sumatra," he said, sobbing.
Syamsul urged all elements of the community to not be provoked by the perpetrators, who he said intended to upset regional stability.
Head of the Golkar Party's board of advisors Surya Paloh urged all Golkar cadres to not be provoked and to trust in the police's ability to bring the case to justice.
He said that Golkar had the power to take revenge, but that it preferred a peaceful solution to the conflict.
"Let's prove that the whole community in North Sumatra is united and fully committed to the same goal, namely to develop and maintain stability," he said.