President: we will not tolerate acts of violence

Jakarta, NU Online
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Sunday said he would not tolerate the acts of violence that occurred on Thursday in which a Toyota Avanza whose occupants included FPI activists fleeing from hundreds of angry Sukorejo residents, hit and killed a woman, Tri Munarti.<>

“My position is very clear, we will not give any form of tolerance,” the president said in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on Sunday, as quoted by Detik.com.

He commended the actions taken by police during the incident, which he said had prevented further violence from breaking out.

“Thank God the violence did not expand further. I have instructed the National Police not to allow such incidents to happen.”

“This has to be prevented so that no other entities, including FPI [do this].”

Yudhoyono also called on the public to remain calm.

FPI’s Yogyakarta head, Bambang Tedi, has denied that the driver of the car was an FPI member.

“We would like to confirm that the “deadly driver” in Sukorejo, Kendal, is not an FPI member but instead a driver for a car rented by FPI’s Magelang branch,” he said on Sunday, as quoted by Antaranews.

He also sought to distance the organization from the vehicle. “The car also does not belong to the FPI. So we hope the public understands the facts, that the individual who killed the victim is not an FPI member.”

Bambang said he understood the public’s anger over the accident, which saw the car burned after the crash.

Reported as many as seven other cars were also reportedly burned in the chaos.

Bambang refused to concede the fact that other cars at the scene were burned. “We can understand if the Avanza was burned [by the public]. But for the seven other cars belonging to our members, we cannot accept that. We hope the police would investigate that.”

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq