21 ABRI members quizzed in missing persons probe<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): National Military Police have questioned 21
\npolice and military officers as part of their ongoing
\ninvestigation into the disappearance of a number of political
\nactivists, an official said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"We're working on the case,\" National Military Police
\nCommander Maj. Gen. Syamsu Djalal said.<\/p>\n
\"We've also been in contact with other senior officials,
\nincluding Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie
\nSjamsoeddin and Lt. Col. Lubis of the Jakarta Police,\" Syamsu
\ntold reporters after a meeting with families of the missing
\nactivists.<\/p>\n
Lubis was reportedly the officer who signed a warrant for the
\ndetention of Andi Arief, chairman of the Indonesian Student
\nSolidarity for Democracy (SMID), at the city police headquarters.<\/p>\n
Accompanied by representatives of the Commission for Missing
\nPersons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the family members
\nwent to the Military Police Headquarters to ask about the latest
\ndevelopments in the investigation.<\/p>\n
Syamsu strongly denied accusations that he and the rest of the
\nfact-finding team were purposely working slowly on the case.<\/p>\n
\"We have put our best effort into the case, but these things
\ntake time. It's not a simple matter.<\/p>\n
\"You have to remember that these events happened quite a long
\ntime ago, so we must hope that the investigation runs smoothly.
\nWe are doing the best we can,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Syamsu also disclosed yesterday that the current members of
\nthe fact-finding team would soon be replaced, but said a decree
\nwould first have to be issued by the Minister of Defense and
\nSecurity\/Armed Forces Commander before any changes could be made.<\/p>\n
He refused to say who the new members of the fact-findings
\nteam would be, but alluded jokingly to the fact that he himself
\nwas now old enough to retire.<\/p>\n
The current team assigned to investigate the case includes
\nSyamsu, the National Police Assistant for Security and Social
\nOrder and the Armed Forces Assistant for Intelligence.<\/p>\n
Relatives of the missing activists also met with
\nrepresentatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross
\n(ICRC) on Thursday in a bid to press the authorities into
\nconducting a more thorough investigation into the matter.<\/p>\n
They also recently met with the National Commission on Human
\nRights, but declined a chance to discuss the case with members of
\nthe Armed Forces (ABRI) faction in the House of Representatives
\nlast week.<\/p>\n
The delegation who met with Syamsu included relatives of
\nSuyat, Bimo Petrus Anugrah, Noval Alkatiri, Yani Avri, Leonardus
\n\"Gilang\" Nugroho Iskandar, Dedy Hamdun and several other missing
\npersons.<\/p>\n
Noval, a businessman, and Yani, a bus driver, went missing
\nduring last year's general election campaign.<\/p>\n
Gilang, a renowned street singer in Surakarta and nearby
\ntowns, was found dead in a forest near Magetan, East Java, on May
\n23, after being missing for two days.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, representatives of Juanda University in Bogor met
\nwith National Police Detectives Commander Brig. Gen. Da'i
\nBachtiar to demand that all charges brought against three
\nstudents in relation to the death of a police officer in Bogor,
\nWest Java, last month be dropped.<\/p>\n
The university rector and Legal Aid Foundation representatives
\nalso demanded that police clear the university's name.<\/p>\n
\"We're currently trying to find out which officers assaulted
\nthe three students when they were in detention. We will give the
\nmatter some further serious consideration,\" Da'i said.<\/p>\n
The police have accused the three students of beating Second
\nLt. Dadang Rusmana to death during a demonstration at the campus
\non May 9. Dadang was head of the Bogor police intelligence unit.<\/p>\n
However, the police accusations have caused a huge controversy
\nbecause Yuli Budiningsih, the forensics expert who performed the
\nautopsy on the officer's body, publicly insists that Dadang died
\nof a heart attack. (edt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/21-abri-members-quizzed-in-missing-persons-probe-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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