The Jakarta Metro Police have arrested 257 people alleged to have provoked and then taken part in violent riots during last night’s post-election protests. Police say they have obtained evidence that the provocateurs were paid to manufacture chaos.
Rioters and alleged agitators were arrested at three different spots in downtown Jakarta yesterday, namely Gambir, Petamburan and outside the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) office in Menteng.
The Jakarta Metro Police, through its Traffic Management Center Twitter account, shared this video of the alleged culprits being rounded up, making it clear in the post that they were “perusuh bayaran” (paid provocateurs).
TNI-Polri amankan ratusan Perusuh bayaran berdalih menyuarakan pendapat di Kawasan Thamrin.
TNI-Polri tidak akan mentolerir dan akan menindak tegas semua upaya yg akan mengganggu ketertiban Masyarakat serta aksi2 inkonstitusional yang merusak proses demokrasi.
NKRI harga mati! pic.twitter.com/rG02ybGKey
— TMC Polda Metro Jaya (@TMCPoldaMetro) May 22, 2019
Jakarta Metro Police Spokesman Argo Yuwono says the institution has in its possession evidence supporting their allegation that the suspects were paid thugs.
“The suspects came from outside Jakarta, some from West Java. They came to Sunda Kelapa [Mosque in Central Jakarta], and met with some people there [to plan attacks on May 22]. We have evidence for this, including recordings,” Argo told reporters yesterday eveing, as quoted by Kompas.
Argo added that in that particular instance, the suspects planned an attack on a police dormitory in Petamburan, which they carried out in the early hours of May 22 by setting the accommodation and 11 cars on fire.
The police say they also obtained evidence from the suspects that they planned to attack President Joko Widodo in Central Jakarta yesterday.
“They posted messages in a WhatsApp group, such as, ‘where are all the other supplies for war?’ And then there were also messages like, ‘the riots have reached Tanah Abang’ and ‘according to live TV Jokowi is in Johar Baru, let’s attack,’” Argo said.
“The riots were planned. Somebody paid them and supplied them.”
From the suspects, the police confiscated molotov cocktails, sharp weapons such as machetes, rocks, and cash believed to have been received by the suspects as payment for instigating riots.
Related: Police secure envelopes containing cash from violent rioters in C. Jakarta
The police say they are still investigating who hired the suspects.
Violent riots began erupting on the evening of May 21, which carried on into the next morning. During that time, six people were confirmed to have been killed while at least 200 others were injured. It’s not clear at this time if the victims were part of the violent rioters, peaceful protesters, or bystanders.
Protests continued in the afternoon and into the evening of May 22, which were largely peaceful save for several clashes between rioters and riot police late into the night. There have been no reports of additional casualties from last night’s clashes so far.
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