Soerjadi's men threw stones first: Witnesses<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Two witnesses for the defendants in a hearing
\nfrom the 27 July riot told the Central Jakarta District Court
\nyesterday that the supporters of Soerjadi, the officially-backed
\nIndonesian Democratic Party (PDI) leader, were the first to throw
\nstones at the PDI headquarters when they tried to take it off
\nfrom their rivals.<\/p>\n
Witness H. Basir Harianto, a PDI South Jakarta branch
\nofficial, said he was on his way to a mosque early in the morning
\non July 27 when he passed the PDI headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro,
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Basir said he stopped to see what was happening because the
\narea was cordoned off by security officers.<\/p>\n
"I heard people, who were pouring out of trucks and wearing
\nred T-shirt and head bands, shouting and condemning Soerjadi," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
"'Damn Soerjadi, we have been told to guard the land but here
\nwe are made to fight our own brethren," Basir quoted the mob as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
The witness said he also heard several men in black uniforms
\nand others with military style haircuts ordering the people
\nwearing red T-shirts to take the building over because "you have
\nbeen paid for this job."<\/p>\n
According to Basir, upon hearing the instruction the angry
\npeople started throwing stones at the headquarters and pulling
\ndown the fence.<\/p>\n
"However, there was no reaction from the people inside the
\nbuilding," he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in another trial involving Megawati's supporters,
\nwitness Dr. Jarot Hersamsi, the doctor who was in charge of
\nmedical services at the PDI headquarters, testified he entered
\nthe PDI building on July 27 but could not see anything because it
\nwas dark.<\/p>\n
"My foot trampled on something like part of human being's body
\nbut there was no reaction at all," he said.<\/p>\n
He said he heard a commotion like everything was being
\ndamaged. He also heard people shouting: "Don't hit back."<\/p>\n
People who he helped were then carried out by police. He said
\nhe thought they were taken to the Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo General
\nHospital. "But when I went to the hospital, I found only a man
\ntreated for a dog's bite," he said.<\/p>\n
Conflicting<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, two police officers taking the witness stand
\ngave conflicting statements, and said they had forgotten the
\nincident's details.<\/p>\n
Witness Dodi Suhendar repeatedly denied his own statements
\nabout who stoned whom during the riot and where he arrested the
\ndefendants.<\/p>\n
The witness especially changed his testimony after the defense
\nlawyers reminded him the defendants had given a different
\nversion.<\/p>\n
"I have forgotten who cast the first stone at whom in the
\nfracas," he said repeatedly. Suhendar said the same when he was
\nasked to go into details about the incident.<\/p>\n
After denying many parts of his own testimony, Suhendar said
\nthe truth was in the testimony he gave police interrogators
\nrather than what he had earlier told the court.<\/p>\n
Edi Sularso, another police officer who testified, said he had
\nforgotten many details about the people involved in the riot.<\/p>\n
"I do not remember whether there were people in red T-shirts
\nor not," he said responding to the lawyers's question.<\/p>\n
Other witnesses had earlier testified that they were recruited
\nto support Soerjadi and given red T-shirts by an unidentified
\nman. (08)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soerjadis-men-threw-stones-first-witnesses-1447893297",
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