July 27 tragedy marked peacefully in other cities<\/p>\n
SURABAYA (JP): Commemorations of the bloody incident in
\nJakarta on July 27, 1996, passed off peacefully yesterday in
\nseveral cities across the country.<\/p>\n
Troops and police officers appeared to be tolerant of street
\nrallies staged by loyalists of ousted Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PDI) Megawati Soekarnoputri in the Central Java cities of
\nPurwokerto and Semarang, and also in South Sulawesi capital of
\nUjungpandang, despite the rallies being formally banned.<\/p>\n
Here, no street rallies were staged to mark the forcible
\ntakeover of the PDI headquarters in Jakarta, which left at least
\nfive dead and 23 missing.<\/p>\n
Instead, 300 Megawati supporters gathered at the PDI office on
\nJl. Kendangsari Industri 57 to pray and watch video footage of
\nthe incident.<\/p>\n
The commemoration was led by Megawati faction chapter chief
\nSutjipto and was attended by noted human rights lawyer Trimoelja
\nD. Soerjadi.<\/p>\n
Participants used the occasion to award an "honor from the
\npeople" to former East Java military commander Maj. Gen. Djadja
\nSuparman -- now Jakarta military chief -- for his success in
\nkeeping Megawati loyalists and the whole province calm during the
\nrecent unrest.<\/p>\n
The group was referring to the massive destruction during
\nrioting in May that took place especially in Jakarta, some West
\nJava towns and the Central Java town of Surakarta.<\/p>\n
The award was also given because Djadja invited Sutjipto to
\nattend his transfer of duty to his successor Maj. Gen. Djoko
\nSubroto.<\/p>\n
Sutjipto regarded the invitation last July 17 as "a brave
\nrecognition (of his position as legitimate PDI chief)" from a
\nhigh-ranking military officer.<\/p>\n
In Malang, another East Java town, the tragedy was
\ncommemorated with a speech contest, the theme of which was
\ndemocracy. Antara did not say how many people participated or who
\nwon the competition.<\/p>\n
In Semarang -- which has suffered a bout of rumors that fresh
\nviolence would break out yesterday -- hundreds attended the
\ncommemoration held at a branch office on Jl. Brigjen Katamso.<\/p>\n
Antara said the businesses in the city were running as usual
\nthe whole day through.<\/p>\n
Later on in the day, some Megawati supporters marched to the
\nnearby mayor's office on Jl. Pemuda -- under tight security -- to
\nannounce their demand that Minister of Home Affairs Lt. Gen.
\nSyarwan Hamid and Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and
\nSecurity Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung resign over their alleged
\ninvolvement in the bloody incident.<\/p>\n
Feisal and Syarwan were respectively Armed Forces (ABRI)
\ncommander and the ABRI chief for sociopolitical affairs at the
\ntime.<\/p>\n
Both men -- under former president Soeharto's regime -- were
\nalso backers of Soerjadi who held the party's breakaway congress
\nto topple Megawati in Medan, North Sumatra, one month before the
\nJuly 27 tragedy.<\/p>\n
Syarwan explained yesterday that he was not entirely
\nresponsible for the incident.<\/p>\n
In Purwokerto and Ujungpandang, the commemoration was marked
\nwith street rallies by Megawati loyalists, with police giving
\nonly mild warnings to organizers to keep events orderly.
\n(nur\/43\/37\/23\/44)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/july-27-tragedy-marked-peacefully-in-other-cities-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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