Catholics want answers over Indonesian youth's killing

Aug 01, 2018

JAKARTA: Dozens of Priests, brothers and Catholic students on Indonesia's Catholic majority Flores Island held rally and vigil on July 27 to demand police reveal the killer of a young Catholic man, shot in mysterious circumstances, four months ago.

They accused police of deliberately stalling the investigation after alleging the shooter was a member of the security forces.

Ferdinandus Taruk, 24, was shot in the head for no apparent reason while talking with friends in Ruteng, the capital of Manggarai district on March 27.

He was rushed to a local hospital and died a week later.

An autopsy confirmed the bullet that killed Taruk was fired from a weapon known to be used by the security forces, not an air gun local people commonly use.

The lack of an arrest was even more perplexing since local media reports had police and military at the scene when the shooting occurred, the protesters said.

Father Yohanes Sevi Dohut, coordinator of Franciscan commission for justice and peace in Flores, said the police must show some commitment in wanting to solve the case.

"They must not balk at bringing the perpetrator to justice, even if it is a security officer," he told ucanews.com at the vigil where candles were lit to remember Taruk.

He said there is growing sense of insecurity in the community, and public confidence in the police could be severely damaged if the case is not solved.

Servas Jemorang, chairman of the Catholic Students Association said, if this case is a litmus test of the police's commitment to protecting the community

"If nothing is done or not seen to be done, there will be other victims in the future," he said.

Wira Satria Yudha, a police investigator, said authorities were taking the case seriously and that the investigation was ongoing.

"All parties need to be patient and not resort to any action outside the law," he said.

"We have no intention of protecting the perpetrator," he added.

Yosef Syukur, the victim's cousin, called on police not to make false promises.