July 27 tragedy probe reopened<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The joint team investigating the bloody takeover of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party (PDI)'s offices on Jl. Diponegoro,
\nCentral Jakarta, on July 27, 1996, announced on Monday that it
\nplans to accelerate the currently stalled investigation.<\/p>\n
After almost two years of moving at a snail's pace, the team
\nis gearing up for the prosecution of suspects in the attack that
\nclaimed five lives, injured 149 and left 23 others missing.<\/p>\n
Military Police Commander Maj. Gen. Sulaiman A.B. said on
\nMonday that his institution, the police and the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office (AGO) had decided to speed up the resolution of
\nthe case.<\/p>\n
\"We solidified our commitment to continue the legal process
\nin the case as too much time has passed without any significant
\nprogress. We want to finish it as soon as possible,\" said
\nSulaiman.<\/p>\n
He said the team would finish all of the dossiers on the
\nsuspects and would submit them to the prosecutor's office this
\nweek.<\/p>\n
This new urgency on the part of the investigating team comes
\nin the midst of campaigning for the country's first ever direct
\npresidential election, and raises suspicions over the motives and
\ntiming of the renewed commitment to investigating the case.<\/p>\n
Political analyst from Airlangga University, Surabaya, Daniel
\nSparringa said Monday that he doubted the reemergence of the case
\nwas free from political motives.<\/p>\n
\"The case has been frozen for months and it suddenly
\nreemerges. I don't believe that all of a sudden the police and
\nthe AGO have suddenly become strongly committed to enforcing the
\nlaw,\" said Daniel.<\/p>\n
At least one presidential candidate, the Democratic Party's
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono, could be implicated in the case.<\/p>\n
Susilo, who picked former coordinating minister for people's
\nwelfare Jusuf Kalla as his running mate, has topped all public
\nopinion surveys over the past few months.<\/p>\n
But Daniel warned that the case did not concern only Susilo
\nbut also the military as a whole. He argued that Wiranto could
\nalso be affected by the case.<\/p>\n
Susilo was the chief of staff of the Jakarta Military in 1996
\nwhen the incident occurred. He was, however, not in the suspect
\nlist released by the military police in 2002.<\/p>\n
Of the 22 suspects announced by the team, 10 come from the
\nmilitary, including former Jakarta military chief Let. Gen. (ret)
\nSutiyoso -- now the Jakarta governor -- former Jakarta Police
\nchief Insp. Gen. Hamami Nata, and former chief of National
\nIntelligence Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim.<\/p>\n
The most recent developments in the case were back in March
\n2002 when the team, which was established in July 2000 at the
\nsuggestion of the House of Representatives, reportedly submitted
\nnine dossiers to the prosecutor's office.<\/p>\n
In December 2003, the court tried for the first time five
\nsuspects in the case, including two mid-ranking officers and
\nthree civilians. Only one of these -- a civilian -- was found
\nguilty and sentenced to two months in jail. All the others were
\nacquitted.<\/p>\n
Sulaiman, however, denied suggestions that political motives
\nwere behind the team's renewed commitment to investigating the
\ncase, arguing that law enforcers now had sufficient evidence
\nagainst the suspects. He did not elaborate.<\/p>\n
He also said that he did not know if there had been a specific
\ninstruction from President Megawati Soekarnoputri to resume the
\ninvestigation into the case.<\/p>\n
\"This is a purely legal matter. It has nothing to do with
\npolitics. I don't know about any specific instruction or negative
\ncampaigning,\" said Sulaiman.<\/p>\n
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman admitted that
\nthere was a specific order from \"someone above\" to finish the
\ncase as soon as possible but denied that the reemergence of the
\ncase had something to do with the presidential election.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/july-27-tragedy-probe-reopened-1447893297",
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