Govt pressed to complete Priok probe<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government is under pressure from rights
\nactivists, victims and relatives of the victims to speed up the
\ninvestigation into the military shooting towards demonstrating
\nmass in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Sept. 12, 1984.<\/p>\n
One of the victims, A.M. Fatwa, who was jailed by the past
\ngovernment for questioning the odd number of victims given
\nofficially by the military, said there was no reason for the
\ninvestigators to again delay deadline which will due on Sept. 20.<\/p>\n
\"It's not clear how the Attorney General's Office takes its
\ncommitment to complete the investigation which is still at a
\nstandstill and takes needlessly long time,\" Fatwa, who is a
\nmember of the House of Representatives, told reporters on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
\"Current Attorney General M.A. Rachman is responsible if the
\ncase is abandoned. His performance will be evaluated by the
\nHouse. We're arranging the schedule of a meeting with him,\" he
\nsaid on the sideline of the bloodshed's observance.<\/p>\n
Attorney General's Office spokesman Muljohardjo told The
\nJakarta Post that there were many witnesses left for questioning.<\/p>\n
\"Hopefully we can complete investigation before the deadline,\"
\nhe said Tuesday, adding that no suspects have yet been named.<\/p>\n
The shooting took place following a demonstration demanding
\nthe release of four civilian residents detained at the military
\ndistrict command, which didn't have the right to arrest civilians
\nbut the police in accordance with the Criminal Code.<\/p>\n
The mass were mobilized in an afternoon lecture at the Tanjung
\nPriok Rawa Badak Mosque by preachers, who criticized the
\ngovernment's policies, believed to shut down the people's freedom
\nof religion and speech.<\/p>\n
Mochtar Beni Biki, another victim, said Tuesday that until now
\nthere was a stigma put in the head of the opponents that they
\nwanted to change the country's ideology with Islam teachings.<\/p>\n
\"We've been called the right extreme because of the misreading
\nof our stance that time. We've been rejected by the society. Some
\nof us lost their job and cannot get new ones,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
Beni Biki is the younger brother of Amir Biki, the preacher
\nduring the Sept. 12 lecture, whose dead body was the only one
\nhanded by the military to the family for proper burial, while
\nmost others had been declared missing until recently.<\/p>\n
The military claimed that nine people died in the shooting,
\nwhile eyewitnesses said they had seen a truck loaded with charred
\nbodies. They were believed buried in unidentified graves spread
\nin several burial sites in North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
An inquiry formed by the National Commission on Human Rights
\n(Komnas HAM) found that there were 33 known fatalities after
\nexhuming the graves. Fourteen of them are still unidentified.<\/p>\n
The government had ordered the establishment of rights ad hoc
\ntribunal for Tanjung Priok case and the 1999 East Timor tragedy.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court is now in the process of screening the ad
\nhoc judges for the two cases.<\/p>\n
\"The incident should be seen as a fundamental agenda to make a
\nnational concept in reorganize the judicial institutions and to
\nreview the military-civilian relation. The case is only taken as
\na crime and not the state's problem. That's a pity, Munir said.
\n(bby)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-pressed-to-complete-priok-probe-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}