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Jakarta Post

Papua Police chief to be replaced after Tolikara

The National Police chief Gen

Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, July 31, 2015

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Papua Police chief to be replaced after Tolikara

T

he National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti will replace Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Yotje Mende, two weeks after a fatal clash in Tolikara which left one person dead and a mosque razed.

A classified telegram obtained on Thursday by The Jakarta Post, says that Yotje will be replaced by current West Papua Police chief Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw, who has headed the new province'€™s police since it was established in December last year.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Agus Rianto confirmed on Thursday that Yotje would be reassigned as a high-ranking officer under the service of the National Police'€™s headquarters following Paulus'€™ inauguration on Friday.

However, Agus denied that Yotje'€™s replacement had anything to do with the Tolikara incident.

'€œThere is no connection. He has been replaced because he will soon enter retirement,'€ Agus said.

Yotje, who turned 58 this month, faced scrutiny earlier this month after a fatal clash between Christian and Muslim groups in Tolikara led to the death of one teenager, the torching of a mosque and the destruction of a number of kiosks.

The authorities said that tensions were triggered by a letter from the Tolikara chapter of the Evangelical Church of Indonesia (GIDI), demanding that local Muslims not carry out Idul Fitri prayers on July 17.

The letter was said to have been revoked, but it was taken as an order by a Christian group that was running a conference near where the Idul Fitri prayers took place.

The police claimed responsibility for shootings that occurred during the riot, saying that they had lost control of the angry mob and needed to apply force to calm the situation.

Since then, two members of GIDI have been named as suspects for allegedly inciting the riots. Yotje has said that the suspects could face a maximum prison sentence of five years for provocation and assault under articles 160 and 170 of the Criminal Code (KUHP).

The telegram, signed by the National Police chief'€™s human resources assistant Insp. Gen. Sabar Rahardjo, also said that Paulus would be replaced by Brig. Gen. Royke Lumowa, who has been serving as the Assistant Coordination Deputy for conflict areas under the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Ministry.

Separately, National Police Commission (Kompolnas) member Hamidah Abdurrahman told the Post that it was unlikely that the National Police rotated Yotje because of the Tolikara incident.

'€œPak Yotje has already passed the age of retirement and must be replaced,'€ she said on Thursday.

Police expert Bambang Widodo Umar also agreed that the Tolikara incident was not the reason for Yotje'€™s removal. Bambang said that Yotje was replaced because the National Police believed that he could be a strong candidate in the race for new leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

'€œPak Yotje Mende is one of the candidates for the new KPK commissioners and may feel like he has a strong chance of being selected. The National Police may have decided that it should replace [Yotje] soon [because of this],'€ he said.

Bambang added that although there was no official rule stipulating that a police chief must be a native of the province they are assigned to lead, West Papuan-born Paulus may have an advantage since he was born there and familiar with local customs and tradition.

'€œAlthough this may be a simplification, it would be better if a local could hold the police chief position because they would be able to resolve criminal and social problems easily,'€ he said.

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