They are being questioned internallyJakarta (ANTARA) - Three personnel from the Jakarta Metropolitan Police are still being investigated over the deaths of six FPI members on December 7, 2020.
"They are being questioned internally," head of the National Police’s public information bureau, Brig.Gen.Rusdi Hartono, said in Jakarta on Thursday.
While Hartono did not disclose their identities, he said they are being questioned by the police's internal affairs division (Propam) and the criminal investigation department (Bareskrim).
He also stressed that the police would learn and follow up all recommendations of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in the case.
The National Police's criminal investigation department reportedly raised the status of the FPI shooting case into an investigation.
The status was raised after investigators from the Bareskrim, Propam, and Office of the Inspectorate General (Itwasum) conducted an internal probe on Wednesday.
As of Thursday, the cops' status remains "reported" for alleged violation of Article 338 juncto Article 351 of the Criminal Code on murder and persecution.
To help the internal investigation process, the three Jakarta police officers have been relieved from their duties, Hartono informed.
After probing the deaths of six members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) on December 7, 2020, Komnas HAM had publicly announced the results of their investigation early this year.
The police had also probed the fatal encounter between the FPI members and police officers.
Based on its probe, the Komnas HAM had recommended that the shooting case be tried transparently at a criminal court since the deaths of four of the six slain FPI members could be categorized as human rights violations.
"The (fatal shooting) case cannot be handled internally. Instead, it must be resolved through a law enforcement mechanism at a criminal court," head of the commission's team of investigators, Choirul Anam, stated at a press conference in January this year.
The commission’s investigators had concluded that the deaths of four of the six guards of the group's leader, Habib Rizieq Shihab, during an encounter at KM 50 of the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road, constituted a violation of human rights since on-duty police officers allegedly gunned them down without making any attempt to prevent more fatalities.
Two other FPI members had died as a result of a sideswipe collision between their car and the police vehicle on the road and an exchange of fire between them and the cops, Anam said.
Komnas HAM has identified the executors of the FPI members, he informed, adding that the commission has also recommended that a comprehensive probe be conducted over the FPI members' alleged possession of handguns.
The commission further revealed that 18 gunshot wounds were found on the bodies of the FPI members -- Muhammad Reza (20), Muhammad Suci Khadavi (21), Faiz Ahmad Syukur (22), Lutfi Hakim (25), Ahmad Sofiyan (26), and Andi Oktiawan (33).
On the day of the incident, the slain men were involved in securing a motorcade of the group's top leader, Habib Rizieq Shihab, from the Sentul area in Bogor district.
From witness accounts and outcomes of their analysis of CCTV camera footage and recorded conversations, the commission’s team of investigators found that several cars had tailed Shihab's motorcade, starting from Sentul.
Two of the cars, identified as a black Avanza van, bearing the registration number B-1739-PWQ, and a silver Avanza van (B-1278-KJD) were observed tailing the FPI leader's motorcade, it said. (INE)
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Laily R, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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