JP\/3\/priok<\/p>\n
Kopassus chief must stand for Priok trial: Judge<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono
\nand Abdul Khalik
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Human Rights Court on Thursday stressed that the
\ndefendant Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan, now the Army's Special
\nForces (Kopassus) commander, must stand trial for crimes against
\nhumanity which took place in 1984.<\/p>\n
The defence claims of Sriyanto, then a captain heading the
\nNorth Jakarta military district's operational unit at the time of
\nthe Tanjung Priok shootings, had said the court had no legal
\nright to try him.<\/p>\n
However Judge Herman Heller Hutapea said that the 2000 law on
\nhuman rights trials, and the presidential decrees on the
\nestablishment of tribunals, show that the court has both the
\nauthority and the competence to hear the case. The judges
\nrejected the defense claims that the retroactive principle --
\nunder which the rights court established in 2000 hears earlier
\ncases -- breaches the law. They said that the penal code does not
\ntouch on gross violations of human rights while the defense
\nmaintained that Sriyanto had not committed such acts.<\/p>\n
Sriyanto's trial will be adjourned until Dec. 11 when the
\npanel of judges will begin to hear testimony from witnesses.<\/p>\n
Sriyanto faces at least 10 years in prison and a maximum of
\nthe death penalty if proven guilty.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the issue of compensation for the massacre continues
\nto divide the victims, who clashed during Thursday's session .<\/p>\n
The issue of whether to accept or reject offers of
\ncompensation, or islah, appeared to be distracting victims from
\nthe trial, while the independent Commission for Missing Persons
\nand Victims of Violence (Kontras) pursued the issue of the
\nmissing material evidence.<\/p>\n
The clash among the victims occurred just moments after
\nSriyanto was escorted out of the court by scores of his soldiers,
\nwho had packed the court as usual.<\/p>\n
"They (the pro-islah victims) suddenly grabbed me and pushed
\nme around, asking where Mochtar Beni Biki was," said Ishaqa, one
\nof the anti-islah victims.<\/p>\n
Beni Biki is the younger brother of Amir Biki, a noted cleric
\nwho was killed in the 1984 shootings, and who the pro-islah
\nvictims accuse of causing the incident in the first place with
\nhis anti-Soeharto sermons in mosques in the Tanjung Priok area of
\nNorth Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The clash itself apparently started when the pro-islah victims
\nbecame irked by a group of demonstrators claiming to be "victims
\nof military atrocities" who marched along the corridors of the
\ncourthouse carrying banners demanding that "the murderous
\ngenerals be tried".<\/p>\n
"Who do they think they are? We are the victims of the Tanjung
\nPriok incident," said Asep Saprudin, secretary of the Yayasan
\nPenerus Bangsa (YPB), a foundation formed to facilitate
\ncompensation for the victims of the incident.<\/p>\n
The pro-islah victims, who wore YPB caps and dark blue shirts
\nwith the slogan "Islah, Kebahagiaan Kami" (Islah means
\ncontentment for us), then snatched the banner from the
\ndemonstrators, and accused the anti-islah victims and
\n"communists" of being behind the demonstration.<\/p>\n
Court security personnel and police deployed to guard the
\ncourthouse immediately rushed in to stop the situation
\nescalating.<\/p>\n
On Mar. 1, 2001, 87 representatives of the victims of the
\nTanjung Priok incident signed an islah (Islamic reconciliation)
\nagreement at the Sunda Kelapa mosque in Central Jakarta with
\nmilitary officers involved in the incident, including Gen. (ret)
\nTry Sutrisno, who was then the Jakarta military commander.<\/p>\n
Also on Thursday, Usman Hamid of Kontras and a number of
\nwitnesses, met with National Police spokesperson Zainuri Lubis
\nabout evidence that has gone missing -- including several
\nsemiautomatic weapons, 1984 standard procedure manuals for riots,
\na recording of the Sep. 12 incident, and the Jakarta army
\ndetainees register, Usman said.<\/p>\n
He said that according to military headquarters, the evidence
\nhad been lost. According to the judges, however, based on the
\ndefendants' case files the evidence had been confiscated by the
\nthen deputy attorney general for general crimes, MA Rachman.<\/p>\n
"There are indications that the evidence has been deliberately
\nmisplaced," he said, adding that the loss could weaken the
\nprosecution case against the defendants.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp3priok-1447899208",
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