News and Other Busyness

British Firms Equip Indonesian Police

Squall 14, Autumn 1996, pg. 6.

BRITISH-supplied riot control vehicles and electronic batons were used to quell riots in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta in August.

The vehicles, including water canon, were supplied by a company called Glover Webb, of Hamble, part of a larger company - GKN Defence.

Indonesian police also used electro-shock batons made by a South African company which is an associate of British firm SDMS Security Products.

But criticism levelled at multinational companies who invest in Indonesia is shrugged off. An ICI spokesman is reported as saying:

“This happens everytime there is unrest anywhere. You get a lot of questions at first, but people stop asking when it dies down. That’s life for a multinational company.”

The riots in Indonesia died down after protestors were ordered to be shot.