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SCMP’s Asia desk

An Indonesian minister has called for better protection of students after nearly 1,000 weapons were found at a private school in South Jakarta.
Police seized 995 airsoft guns and one live firearm from a school run by the Harapan Ibu Islamic School Foundation on Friday, Antara news agency reported.
The foundation’s former chair, identified only by the initials IWD, has been called in for questioning. IWD had been dismissed amid allegations of misuse of foundation funds, according to the Jakarta Globe.
All the weapons – along with suspected narcotics and 25 pornographic CDs – were found in a room used by IWD when the school’s new management was doing a clear-out.
“When we opened the room, we found the weapons,” said Untung Sangaji, a board member, adding that they were classified as such because “airsoft guns can kill because the bullets are plain and there is no groove”.
“We have no idea why they were being kept on school grounds,” he said.
Police spokesman Budi Hermanto said the live firearm was a Franchi SPAS-15 12-gauge combat shotgun belonging to a man who died several years ago. “As for the other 995, they are believed to comprise four 4.5-mm air rifles, 215 air pistols of 4.5-mm calibre and 776 air revolvers of 4.5-mm calibre,” he added.
A company affiliated with the Indonesian Shooting Association initially claimed ownership of the weapons on Friday, saying that they were “not firearms in the conventional sense but primarily airsoft guns used for sports and school extracurricular activities”.


However, foundation lawyer Hermawanto said that the school “never had a shooting extracurricular” – directly contradicting IWD’s lawyer, Alhadid Endar Putra, who maintained that the weapons were licensed and intended for school activities.
Lawmaker Adang Daradjatun on Saturday called on the police to conduct a transparent and objective investigation.
“The law enforcement process must not be influenced by public opinion or conflicts between the parties involved. Investigators should work based on facts and evidence so that the outcome provides legal certainty and a sense of justice for all parties,” he said.
Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Arifah Fauzi said on Sunday that the discovery should not be allowed to affect the students’ education.
“Children must not bear the burden of an issue that is beyond their responsibility. Let us protect their privacy and psychological well-being, so that they can continue learning in a comfortable environment,” she said.
She urged a thorough inspection of the school’s premises – but without causing a disruption in their learning.
The foundation has moved lessons online for all its schools in South Jakarta for a week starting Monday “to ensure the safety and security of the students”, Hermawan said.
There were other rooms that needed inspecting, he said, including one that resembled a bunker. “There are still locked rooms and we don’t know what’s inside them.”
Alvon Kurnia Palma, a lawyer for the foundation, said parents had requested remote learning while the police examined areas suspected of storing prohibited or potentially dangerous items. “We strongly encourage the police to immediately secure and clear the areas whose contents remain unknown.”
School safety has become a concern in the region after a Thai student shot and killed eight people – including his grandparents, several school staff and a schoolgirl – using his grandfather’s firearm last week. He had reportedly had an airgun confiscated by a teacher last year.


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Suspected narcotics and pornographic CDs were also found in a room used by a former chair of a school foundation


Suspected narcotics and pornographic CDs were also found in a room used by a former chair of a school foundation.


Crime

Thailand

Discovery of almost 1,000 weapons in Indonesian school fuels safety fears

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Suspected narcotics and pornographic CDs were also found in a room used by a former chair of a school foundation

Suspected narcotics and pornographic CDs were also found in a room used by a former chair of a school foundation