Four dead, 27 injured in riot on Indonesia's Flores Island

Jakarta Mar 10 (dpa) At least four people were killed and 27 others injured today after police opened fire on hundreds of angry people storming a police station in the eastern Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara, Flores Island.
Hundreds of people attacked a police office in Manggarai district of Flores, 1,485 kilometres east of Jakarta , this morning, although the cause of the riot remained unclear, Detik.com online news service reported.
An unidentified police official in Manggarai confirmed that the incident had occurred but declined to provide further details.
''There are 31 victims brought to this hospital and four of them have died from gunshot wounds,'' said an official at the local public hospital.
A similar riot occurred on Flores in January, when people attacked the district court house to protest the sentencing of a Catholic priest who had been charged with libel for accusing a local politician of corruption.

Wednesday, March 10, 2004. 6:00pm (AEDT)

Four killed, 100 injured in Indonesian riot

At least four people were killed and more than 100 others have been injured after police on the eastern Indonesian island of Flores opened fire on hundreds of people attacking a police station over a land dispute.

East Nusa Tenggara Province Police Chief Edward Aritonang, who supervises the island, said the incident was triggered by the arrest Tuesday of seven residents in the village of Rendenao for allegedly planting coffee trees in a nearby protected forest.

''They were forced to leave, but they refused, so police officers arrested seven of them,'' Mr Aritonang told reporters in Kupang, the provincial capital.

Following the incident, about 400 people from the village converged on Wednesday morning on the Manggarai Police Headquarters in Ruteng, capital of Manggarai Regency and 30 kilometres away from the village, he said.

''They said they would like to meet the Manggarai police chief, but soon after the police chief arrived, they attacked the police headquarters and a nearby police dormitory with machetes and other sharp weapons,'' he said.

He said there was serious damage to the police headquarters and dormitory and that a policeman was among the injured.

''We have dispatched members of Mobile Brigade (police elite unit) from the nearby regencies of Ende, Ngada and Bajawa and will dispatch an elite police force tomorrow from Kupang (in the nearby Timor Island ) to Ruteng to calm the situation down,'' he said.

-- Kyodo

Manggarai ex-police chief may face trial over killing of six protesters

JAKARTA (AFP): A former police precinct chief may face trial after men under his command shot dead six protesting coffee growers in Flores island last month, police said on Thursday.

Police opened fire on dozens of coffee growers who were attacking a police station in Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara, on March 10 in protest against the arrest of their colleagues. They killed six people and injured more than 20.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Bonifacius Tampoi was fired as Manggarai police chief days after the riot but is still in the force. He is facing disciplinary measures and prosecution, said an officer at the provincial police, First Insp. C. Waton.

"As the police chief, he was the one responsible for the shooting," Waton told AFP.

"Tampoi is due to face a disciplinary proceeding early May and could be dismissed," he added.

The officer said police would submit the result of their questioning to state prosecutors who would decide whether Tampoi should face trial.

Police have named 21 suspects in the case, including farmers who attacked the police station and injured an officer.

They are also looking for seven people suspected to have instigated the attack.

Police have said the protesters were armed with sickles, spears and wooden sticks when they stormed the station and ignored warning shots.

They were demanding the release of seven colleagues arrested for planting coffee in a protected forest.