Tanjung Priok rights trial eventually start<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
There are 11 military officers expected to stand trial at the
\nJakarta ad hoc human rights tribunal Monday for alleged
\ninvolvement in the Tanjung Priok killings, offering hope for
\nfamilies of the victims who have been waiting for justice over
\nthe past 19 years.<\/p>\n
Judge Andi Samsan Nganro, who will preside over the hearing,
\nsaid on Sunday that the court would hear the case of Col.
\nSutrisno Mascung and his 10 colleagues -- soldiers from the North
\nJakarta Military District, at the time of the tragedy.<\/p>\n
\"We are ready to hear the case,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A panel of five judges has been set up to hear the case. It
\nconsists of Andi, a career judge from the Central Jakarta
\nDistrict Court, another career judge Binsar Gultom and three non-
\ncareer judges: Heru Susanto, Amiruddin Abureira and Sulaeman
\nHanif.<\/p>\n
Sutrisno was the commander of Platoon III of the Air Defense
\nArtillery Battalion, while the others were his subordinates when
\nthe bloodshed took place on Sept. 12, 1984.<\/p>\n
They have been charged with gross human rights violations,
\nwhich is punishable by death.<\/p>\n
The court is also expected to hear the case of Maj. Gen.
\nSriyanto Muntrasan, who was Sutrisno's superior as the head of
\nNorth Jakarta Military District's operational unit at the time.<\/p>\n
Sriyanto, currently the commander of the Army's Special
\nCommand Forces (Kopassus), is the highest ranking military
\nofficer to be tried in the case.<\/p>\n
His case has yet to be submitted to the court by the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office, however.<\/p>\n
Two other cases would be those of former police commander of
\nthe Jakarta military command Maj. Gen. (ret) Pranowo and former
\nNorth Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen. (ret) Rudolf Butar
\nButar.<\/p>\n
The government has never announced why Gen. (ret) L.B.
\nMoerdani and Gen. (ret) Try Sutrisno -- Indonesian Military
\ncommander and Jakarta Military chief respectively at the time --
\nwere absent from the list.<\/p>\n
The Tanjung Priok killings were reportedly set off by a
\nmilitary soldier who entered a prayer room (musholla), without
\nobeying certain religious protocols, near the port of Tanjung
\nPriok on Sept. 7, 1984.<\/p>\n
He went in to tear down posters which the government
\nconsidered extremist in nature, but he did not take off his
\nboots, an act considered to be tantamount to desecration in a
\nMuslim holy place.<\/p>\n
Witnesses alleged that the soldier smeared gutter water on the
\nwalls as well. An outraged group of people then burnt the
\nsoldier's motorcycle. Four people, including the musholla's
\nadministrator, were arrested.<\/p>\n
Five days later, Amir Biki, a local Muslim activist, led some
\n1,500 fellow civilians on a march to the police station to put
\npressure on the authorities to free the four detainees.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses said that soldiers opened fire, killing scores of
\nprotesters. Biki was among the dead. Many other demonstrators
\nwere detained and allegedly tortured in connection with the
\ndemonstration.<\/p>\n
The day after the shooting, Moerdani gave the official
\nversion of the event in a publicly broadcast announcement, in
\nwhich he said, \"Irresponsible agitators were the cause of the
\nincident and the inevitable casualties.\"<\/p>\n
That remained the government's last word on the matter until
\nthe fall of the Soeharto regime in May 1998.<\/p>\n
Relatives of the victims have said the incident claimed almost
\n400 victims, while the military claimed only 18 people were
\nkilled.<\/p>\n
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) presented
\npresident Abdurrahman Wahid on July 6, 2000, the final report of
\nits special investigation into the Tanjung Priok massacre.<\/p>\n
It found that 33 were killed -- including 14 people whose
\nidentities remain unknown -- and 55 were injured.<\/p>\n
The defendants in the Tanjung Priok case<\/p>\n
1. Maj. Gen. Sriyanto former commander of the North Jakarta<\/p>\n
military operational command, now<\/p>\n
the commander of the Army's Special<\/p>\n
Forces (Kopassus) and soon to be
\npromoted as<\/p>\n
the commander of the Central Java<\/p>\n
military<\/p>\n
2. Maj. Gen. (ret) former Jakarta military police<\/p>\n
Pranowo commander<\/p>\n
3. Maj. Gen. (ret) former North Jakarta military commander<\/p>\n
Rudolf Butar Butar<\/p>\n
4. Col. Sutrisno Mascung former commander of air defense<\/p>\n
artillery battalion<\/p>\n
5. Chief Corp. Asrori former member of the Jakarta military<\/p>\n
command<\/p>\n
6. Chief Corp. Siswoyo idem<\/p>\n
7. Sgt. Maj. Abdul Halim idem<\/p>\n
8. Second Lt. Zulfata idem<\/p>\n
9. Sgt. Maj. Sumitro idem<\/p>\n
10. Chief Sgt. Soyan Hadi idem<\/p>\n
11. Chief Corp. Prayogi idem<\/p>\n
12. Chief Corp. Winarko idem<\/p>\n
13. Chief Corp. Idrus idem<\/p>\n
14. Chief Corp. Muhson former member of air defense artillery<\/p>\n
regiment<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tanjung-priok-rights-trial-eventually-start-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }