REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MAGELANG -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Monday called on the people here not to take the law into their own hands but refer any case to the security authorities concerned.
He made the statement in response to an incident at Indonesia Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) in Menteng, Jakarta, early on Monday.
"An incident like this should just be referred to the security authorities. People should not take the law into their own hands. They must refer it to security authorities and allow them to settle it. Our country is a law-based country," he stated, after visiting a suspension bridge project in Magelang, Central Java.
He added that communism, which had been linked to the incident, no longer had a place in Indonesia.
On Sunday, people claiming to come from several mass organizations besieged YLBHI, and many of them pelted pebbles at the building.
They made verbal intimidation of the organizer of a discussion, combined with art performances, held at the building.
The event began at 3p.m. on Sunday. YLBHI claimed that they had received the permit from the security authorities to hold the event, which was also guarded by police.
Prior to the conclusion of the event at 10p.m., people called for the dispersal of the discussion. They besieged the building because they believed the discussion was about communism. The organizer claimed that no such topic was being discussed at the event.
Sounds of glass breaking and stones being thrown were heard inside the building. Shouts of "Ganyang PKI" (Crush Indonesia Communist Party), along with other intimidating words, were heard from the crowd.
Participants of the discussion could not leave the building because of the siege.
"The security personnel did not seem firm enough to guard the event," Yunita from YLBHI revealed.
The police cordoned off the area around YLBHI until 00.21a.m. on Monday due to the incident.
Twenty-two people have been arrested for allegedly vandalizing public facilities, including a police car.
Five policemen were hurt in the riots.
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