Of The 71 That Were Secured, The National Police Have Determined 17 Bloody Clash Suspects At PT GNI

National Police Chief General Pol Listyo Sigit Prabowo press conference about the clashes at PT GNI, Monday 16 January. (Screenshot of YouTube Setpres)

National Police Chief General Pol Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the police had arrested 71 people and named 17 suspects from bloody clashes in the area of PT Gunbuster Nickel Industri (GNI), North Morowali, Central Sulawesi (Sulteng).

"Approximately 71 people have been arrested and 17 people have now been named as suspects," said General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, quoted from the Setpres YouTube channel, Monday, January 16.

Until now, the National Police Chief said that 548 security personnel from the TNI and Polri elements had prevented clashes from happening again. The addition will also be carried out as many as two company-level units (SSK) Brimbob from the center.

The National Police Chief said that after bloody clashes between workers occurred on Saturday, January 14, PT GNI's operations would also return to normal starting tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17.

"Based on the latest information that the GNI smelter company will start its operational activities again tomorrow morning, of course, I urge the entire community as well as all employees not to be easily provoked by issues that are not necessarily clear," he said.

According to the National Police Chief, the demonstration led to clashes in the nickel processing industry (smelter) area of PT GNI in Bunta Village, East Petasia District, Central Sulawesi, triggered by provocations for a strike.

"There was an industrial problem that was being negotiated at that time and then it went viral as if there was a beating by foreign workers (foreign workers) against Indonesian workers, so this has led to the influence of provocation and then resulted in an attack," he said.

Clashes at PT GNI took place from Saturday, January 14 at noon until evening. As a result of this incident, two victims died, namely a local worker and a foreign worker (TKA). The clashes also caused a number of material losses.