HMI Reports Jakarta Police Chief for Alleged Provocation During Protest Rally
Jakarta. Members of the Islamic Students' Association, or HMI, reported Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Mochamad Iriawan to the National Police on Friday (11/11) for alleged provocation during last week's mass protest rally in the capital.
A YouTube video purportedly shows him talking to some demonstrators during the rally, which eventually turned violent.
Citing the video, HMI members accused him of having instructed some protesters to attack those who allegedly incited the violence, an allegation dismissed by Jakarta Police officials.
HMI members visited the offices of the National Police's internal affairs unit to file the report, which accuses him of violating sections of the criminal code on provocation and defamation.
"We have prepared the video and photos as evidence, as well as several witnesses and experts," HMI legal defense coordinator M. Syukur Mandar told reporters at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta.
In defense of Iriawan, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Awi Setiyono said the chief "was asking for a moral commitment" from demonstrators to prevent the rally from turning violent.
He said Iriawan met with some protesters after the rally to ask them why they did not act to prevent violence, or turn in those who allegedly incited violence, in accordance with a promise by protest leader Rizieq Shihab.
The hard-line Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI), which is headed by Rizieq, led hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the protest against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, who is accused of blasphemy over recent remarks related to a Koranic verse.
The rally proceeded peacefully before protesters violated a regulation stating they should have dispersed after 6.00 p.m., a move compromised by the police until a riot broke out at nightfall, resulting in hundreds of demonstrators and police officers being injured.
Five HMI members were named suspects for alleged attacks on the police.
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