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Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Police have named 12 people as suspects over the material damage suffered by the Dutch consulate general in Medan in a demonstration against the film `Fitna` last Tuesday (April 2), a spokesman said.

"We have identified 12 people as perpetrators of the damage done to the Dutch consulate general building," North Sumatra Police Chief Insp Gen Nurudin Usman told reporters here Friday.

The police had questioned a total of 29 people over the incident and detained eight of them while four others who had also been named suspects were still at large.

The suspects would be charged based on articles 170 and 406 of the Criminal Code for having collectively engaged in acts that had damaged the Dutch consulate general building, he said.

Tuesday`s demonstration to protest the anti-Islamic film Fitna made by Dutch politician Geert Wilders was staged by tens of members of the North Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Muslim University Students Union (HMI). They burned tires and the Dutch national flag, and bombarded the consulate building with stones and rotten eggs.

On Wednesday, the Dutch embassy in Jakarta sent one of its officials to Medan to assess the damage suffered by the consulate building.

The Dutch embassy official told local reporters the demonstrators` actions were much regretted. The Dutch government had already rejected the film so it was not necessary for Indonesians to attack Dutch government property, he said.(*)

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