SORONG: An angry mob has slaughtered nearly 300 crocodiles in Indonesia after a local man was killed by one of the reptiles, authorities said Monday.
The revenge killing happened Saturday in Papua province following the funeral of the man, who perished when he fell into an enclosure at a crocodile farm while looking for grass to feed his livestock, police and conservation officials said.
The victim, identified as 48-year-old Sugito, was bitten on the leg and then fatally struck with a tail of one of the crocodiles, which are a protected species, they said.
Sugito’s relatives and local residents, angry over the farm’s location near a residential area, marched to the local police station, authorities said.
Local conservation agency head Bassar Manulang said they were told that the farm had agreed to pay compensation.
“We made an agreement with the victim’s family and conveyed our condolences,” he added.
But the mob, which numbered in the “hundreds,” was not satisfied and headed to the crocodile farm armed with knives, machetes and shovels which they used to slaughter some 292 crocs, from four-inch-long babies to two-meter adults, authorities said.
Outnumbered police and conservation agency officials said they were unable to stop the grisly attack.
Authorities said they are investigating and may lay criminal charges.
“For now we are still questioning the witnesses,” said Dewa Made Sidan Sutrahna, the police chief in Papua’s Sorong district.
The Indonesian archipelago is home to a vast array of wildlife, including several species of crocodile that regularly attack and kill humans.
In March, authorities in the Indonesian half of Borneo island shot and killed a six-meter long crocodile after it ate a local palm plantation worker.
Two years ago, a Russian tourist was killed by a crocodile in the Raja Ampat islands, a popular diving site in the east of the archipelago.
Indonesian mob slaughters ‘hundreds’ of crocs in revenge attack
Indonesian mob slaughters ‘hundreds’ of crocs in revenge attack
- The victim, identified as 48-year-old Sugito, was bitten on the leg and then fatally struck
- The mob headed to the crocodile farm armed with knives, machetes and shovels
Germany says UN rights rapporteur for Palestinian territories should quit
- Albanese has said that her comments are being falsely portrayed
- “I have never, ever, ever said ‘Israel is the common enemy of humanity’,” Albanese said
BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Thursday called for the resignation of the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, over comments she made allegedly targeting Israel at a conference.
“I respect the UN system of independent rapporteurs. However, Ms Albanese has made numerous inappropriate remarks in the past. I condemn her recent statements about Israel. She is untenable in her position,” Wadephul wrote on X.
Albanese has said that her comments are being falsely portrayed. She denounced what she called “completely false accusations” and “manipulation” of her words in an interview with broadcaster France 24 on Wednesday.
Speaking via videoconference at a forum in Doha on Saturday organized by the Al Jazeera network, Albanese referred to a “common enemy of humanity” after criticizing “most of the world” and much of Western media for enabling the “genocide” in Gaza.
“And this is a challenge — the fact that instead of stopping Israel, most of the world has armed, given Israel political excuses, political sheltering, economic and financial support,” she said.
Albanese said that “international law has been stabbed in the heart” but added that there is an opportunity since “we now see that we as a humanity have a common enemy.”
Wadephul’s French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot on Wednesday made the same call for Albanese to resign over the comments.
“France unreservedly condemns the outrageous and reprehensible remarks made by Ms Francesca Albanese, which are directed not at the Israeli government, whose policies may be criticized, but at Israel as a people and as a nation, which is absolutely unacceptable,” Barrot told French lawmakers.
Albanese posted video of her comments to X on Monday, writing in the post that “the common enemy of humanity is THE SYSTEM that has enabled the genocide in Palestine, including the financial capital that funds it, the algorithms that obscure it and the weapons that enable it.”
In her interview with France 24, which was recorded before Barrot’s statement, she contended that her comments were being misrepresented.
“I have never, ever, ever said ‘Israel is the common enemy of humanity’,” Albanese told the broadcaster.
