Source : The Jakarta Post The police have named a suspect allegedly responsible for an incident that killed 21 people during charity distribution in Pasuruan, East Java, on Monday morning.
National Police spokesperson Ir. Gen. Abubakar Nataprawira said in Jakarta on Tuesday the suspect was Farouk, the second son of the charity giver, Syaikhon.
Abubakar said that Farouk was named as suspect as he was responsible for administering the handouts, which has been a tradition of his family every holy month of Ramadan since the 1990s.
According to witnesses, about 2,000 people attended the charity giving on Monday, crowding an area not large enough for the charity seekers. The 21 victims reportedly died of suffocation and heat exhaustion.
The police said they were not notified by the Syaikhon family prior to the charity giving and suspected a lack of preparation as the main cause for the havoc that killed the victims and injured many.
"The penalty for manslaughter is up to five years' imprisonment," he said.
When asked whether Syaikhon herself would be named a suspect, Abubakar said, she merely provided the place and money.
According to Abubakar, 18 people have been questioned as witnesses and more witnesses, including expert witnesses such as physicians, would be questioned soon.
On Monday morning, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his condolences for the victims and demanded the case to be investigated thoroughly, bringing those responsible to justice.
"Silence is golden is no longer sufficient for such a matter. The public needs explanations as to what happened and we must prevent it from happening again," he said at the State Palace.(and)
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