Murder retrial gets military support<\/p>\n
SURABAYA (JP): East Java Military chief Maj. Gen. Ryamizard
\nRyacudu has promised to support those seeking a fresh inquiry
\ninto the 1993 murder of labor activist Marsinah, provided the
\ncampaign was not meant to be a \"political ploy\".<\/p>\n
\"I really want to see cooperation between the military and
\npolice, so nothing will be covered up,\" Ryamizard told the media
\nhere on Friday.<\/p>\n
The commander said he did not know much about the case as he
\nwas not here when it broke. He said he was never given any
\nspecial instructions from Indonesian Military chief Gen. Wiranto
\non how to handle pressure from the case.<\/p>\n
Different investigations by nongovernmental organizations
\n(NGOs) invariably concluded the role of military personnel in the
\nmurder.<\/p>\n
The badly mutilated body of Marsinah, a worker at a wristwatch
\nmanufacturer company in Sidoardjo, was found on May 8, 1993, in
\nthe forest of Jati Wilangan, Nganjuk, some 150 km west of here.
\nThe murder took place not long after she led a labor strike.<\/p>\n
Following well-publicized investigations, the Sidoarjo Court
\nacquitted all those that the police accused of murder. It was
\nlater revealed that confessions drawn from the defendants were
\nmade under severe duress.<\/p>\n
A number of activists, including playwright Ratna Sarumpaet,
\nrecently took up a campaign to push for the case to be reopened.
\nRatna staged on Tuesday a reenacting of the trial which featured
\nthose involved in the actual one.<\/p>\n
One of the acquitted defendants, Bambang Murdiono, recalled
\nthe torture he suffered at the hands of the investigators.<\/p>\n
\"I was forced to admit that I had killed a woman. My mother
\nthen suffered a heart problem, my son was ostracized by his
\nclassmates and we had to move away. I was condemned by the
\ncommunity,\" said Bambang as he held back tears. At the time, he
\nwas a supervisor at the wristwatch factory.<\/p>\n
\"I was kicked, burned with cigarette butts and given electric
\nshocks on my genitals,\" he said. \"I am still suffering from this
\ntraumatic experience, but for the sake of justice I made myself
\navailable for this show.\"<\/p>\n
The play was set as a court proceeding and the audience of
\nhundreds of workers was allowed to give prompt responses to what
\nplayers were saying. The play will run until Aug. 22 and will
\ncome to Jakarta on Aug. 28.<\/p>\n
Other players include: Trimulya D. Soerjadi, a respected
\nSurabaya lawyer who defended Yudi Susanto, the main defendant and
\nowner of the factory; Richard, a lawyer for another employee of
\nPT Catur; witnesses Muhni Idris, Kadarusman and Tjuk K. Sukiadi.<\/p>\n
Trimulya said his client was severely tortured into admitting
\nhe was Marsinah's killer.<\/p>\n
\"Yudi was willing to say anything because he could not stand
\nthe torture any longer. He would have confessed to killing a
\nthousand Marsinahs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Rights campaigner Pungky Indarti of Indonesian Legal Aid's
\nSurabaya office welcomed the campaign to spur reinvestigation,
\nbut doubted it would do much good. She suspected parties in the
\npolice, military and prosecution would instead find more
\ncomplicated ways to block the campaign.<\/p>\n
Ratna said she planned to collect a million signatures and
\ntake them on Sept. 3 to Gen. Wiranto in order to force the
\ngovernment to find the real murderer of Marsinah.<\/p>\n
Ratna first staged the play in July in Jakarta. It was the
\nfirst play on the labor activist's unsolved murder to have been
\nstaged after a ban under the rule of former president Soeharto.
\n(nur\/06)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/murder-retrial-gets-military-support-1447893297",
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