Priok witness says soldiers did not fire warning shots<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Military soldiers deployed to quell the demonstration in Tanjung
\nPriok in 1984 opened fire at the crowd without prior warning
\nshots, a witness told the human rights court on Monday.<\/p>\n
Yusron bin Zainuri, one of two witnesses testifying against
\nthe main suspect Col. Sutrisno Mascung and 10 of his men, said
\nthat although he could not identify the soldiers in the incident
\nthat took place at night, he was sure of what he saw as he was in
\nthe front part of the crowd.<\/p>\n
\"There were no warning shots either to the ground or in the
\nair. One of the soldiers barked a command ordering the crowd to
\nback off, and then the shooting began,\" Yusron told the judges.<\/p>\n
Sutrisno and his men are being charged with crimes against
\nhumanity for opening fire at the crowd of demonstrators in the
\n1984 incident, leaving 33 of them dead and another 55 injured
\naccording to an investigation by the National Commission on Human
\nRights (Komnas HAM). The crime carries a minimum sentence of 10
\nyears in prison and a maximum penalty of death as stipulated in
\nLaw No. 26\/2002 on the human rights tribunal.<\/p>\n
Yusron said he was shot in the chest, but managed to get back
\non his feet to help fellow demonstrators. He said he saw three
\ntruck-loads of soldiers who kept shooting at the crowd while
\npassing the area.<\/p>\n
He said he pretended to be dead when soldiers scoured the
\nplace and his left arm was dislocated after the troops threw him
\naboard a military truck along with other victims. The wounded
\nwere taken to Gatot Subroto Army Hospital (RSPAD) in Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
During his stay at the hospital, Yusron said he was treated
\nwell by the military police guarding him, except for being
\nslapped across the face and being branded \"a rapist communist\"
\nwhen he tried to converse with the hospital's nurses.<\/p>\n
The other witness, Irta Sumitra, said the shooting began all
\nof a sudden.<\/p>\n
Then a junior high school student, he said he tried to escape
\nfrom the shooting spree but was shot in his right thigh. He was
\nhelped by nearby residents who admitted him to Cipto Mangunkusumo
\nGeneral Hospital (RSCM) in Salemba, Central Jakarta. He was then
\ntransferred by force by the soldiers to RSPAD.<\/p>\n
\"There, I saw dozens of the other victims, as well as Try
\nSutrisno, who even came up to me and told me to pray and study
\nhard, and never to get involved in such a thing again,\" Irta
\nsaid, adding that he was then kept for three months at the
\nmilitary detention center at Cimanggis, in Bogor, West Java to
\nwait for his trial.<\/p>\n
The former vice president Try Sutrisno was then the Jakarta
\nMilitary commander, but escaped prosecution.<\/p>\n
During his trial, Irta said that he was forced to confess to
\ncarrying a sharp object during the demonstration. He was
\nsentenced to a year and six months in prison, minus his detention
\nperiod.<\/p>\n
Monday's trial was also marked by a request from the panel of
\njudges to the prosecutor to summon military officers responsible
\nfor the military equipment to be used as evidence.<\/p>\n
\"Since the court is now hearing testimonies from witnesses, we
\nmight as well question those officers as witnesses,\" said Judge
\nBinsar Gultom.<\/p>\n
The Attorney General's Office had sent two letters dated Sept.
\n12 and Sept. 13, 2001 to the Indonesian Military Headquarters
\nconcerning the confiscation of 13 SKS rifles, several bullet
\ncasings and several military trucks for evidence.<\/p>\n
In a response dated Sept. 18, 2001, however, then commander of
\nthe air defense artillery battalion, Lt. Col. Bambang Suartono,
\nsaid the equipment had long been withdrawn and replaced.<\/p>\n
The trial was adjourned until Dec. 16 to continue hearing the
\ntestimonies of three other witnesses.<\/p>",
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