Wiranto vows to investigate East Java killings<\/p>\n
SURABAYA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security\/Armed Forces
\n(ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto vowed on Sunday to get to the
\nbottom of mysterious killings in East Java which over the past
\ntwo months has claimed the lives of at least 142 people accused
\nof practicing black magic.<\/p>\n
Wiranto, who was on a one-day visit to the province, appealed
\nto the public not to suspect the Armed Forces of involvement in
\nthe killings.<\/p>\n
\"ABRI has conducted internal reforms in several areas, so do
\nnot judge ABRI by the old paradigm,\" he said during a meeting
\nwith 50 Moslem preachers in Banyuwangi. He added that ABRI would
\nalso seek out the mastermind, if there was any, behind the
\nmurders, and asked that the public be patient.<\/p>\n
Wiranto, however, refused to comment on a statement by Moslem
\nleader Abdurrahman Wahid, who on Saturday alleged that Cabinet
\nministers may be involved in the killing spree. \"I do not want to
\nsend the country toward disintegration,\" Wiranto remarked.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, who chairs Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's
\nlargest Islamic organization, told a group of government critics
\nthat members of the Cabinet and several \"non-structural officers\"
\nwere behind the murders.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, declined to mention any
\nnames, saying to do so would only create a furor. He also refused
\nto explain how he came to the conclusion that senior politicians
\nwere involved in the killings.<\/p>\n
\"It's obvious that the masterminds are everywhere, both in the
\nCabinet and outside the formal (political) structure,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, who was reportedly ill on Sunday, said he doubted
\nPresident B.J. Habibie was aware of the alleged involvement of
\nhis aides in the killings. \"The President's staff do not give him
\naccurate information. As far as I know Pak Habibie is a fair
\nperson and would never support such maneuvers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He called for an immediate and serious investigation into the
\nmurder spree which has claimed many NU Moslem preachers.<\/p>\n
Police say that 142 people have been killed in 11 regencies in
\nEast Java. The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of
\nViolence puts the toll at 157. Most victims were in Banyuwangi.<\/p>\n
Human rights campaigner Marzuki Darusman responded cautiously
\non Sunday to Abdurrahman's allegations, saying that Abdurrahman
\ndoes not usually issue statements without supportive information.<\/p>\n
Noted Moslem scholar Nurcholish Madjid said separately on SCTV
\nthat he hoped Abdurrahman's remarks were \"the beginning of
\nsomething more substantial.\" \"I really hope it isn't true... Gus
\nDur has never had any bad intentions,\" Nurcholish said, adding
\nthat Abdurrahman could sometimes be hard to follow.<\/p>\n
Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris said on the sidelines of a
\nGolkar leadership meeting on Sunday that Abdurrahman should
\nreport the matter to the police if he has evidence to support his
\nclaims.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman also cited attacks on the residence of oil tycoon
\nArifin Panigoro and the office of the Indonesian Legal Aid
\nFoundation (YLBHI) as further evidence of the involvement of
\nhigh-ranking officials. \"Habibie's administration has not
\nresponded, while the security forces, who knew about the
\n(Jakarta) attacks, did not do anything,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Around 100 members of the People's Savior Front attacked
\nArifin's South Jakarta residence on Oct. 2, calling him a traitor
\nfor supporting antigovernment student demonstrations earlier this
\nyear. On Oct. 12, hundreds of members of the People's Voice
\nCommittee smashed several windows of the YLBHI office.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman said those involved in the East Java killings and
\nthe attacks on Arifin's house and the YLBHI office were hired.<\/p>\n
However, he dismissed speculation that the killings were
\nlinked to a reported conflict between NU and the Armed Forces
\n(ABRI). \"ABRI remains a good friend of NU. If ABRI has failed to
\nmove fast, it is because it has limited financial means and
\npersonnel to respond quickly to the situation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He also dismissed suggestions that the murders were linked to
\na rumored plan to bring former president Soeharto back into
\npolitics, or to a planned coalition between NU's National
\nAwakening Party (PKB) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
\nunder Megawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
\"The move (killing spree) is meant to paralyze NU,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"It is also meant to trigger civil war between NU and
\nMuhammadiyah,\" he added in reference to the second largest Moslem
\norganization. He dismissed officials' statements that the murders
\nwere perpetrated by members of the outlawed Indonesian Communist
\nParty (PKI). \"What I have learned about the murders... is that
\nthey are meant to maintain the status quo,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Separately in East Java on Sunday, thousands of members of an
\nNU task force were deployed to guard Moslem preachers in the
\nprovincial capital of Surabaya and in neighboring areas.<\/p>\n
Dozens of people from a group called Nation's Solidarity for
\nVictims of the Banyuwangi Tragedy also held a mass prayer at the
\nProclamation Monument in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Also on Sunday, hundreds of people in Banjarnegara, Central
\nJava, attacked a house allegedly owned by a sorcerer. The owner,
\nTiardjo, reportedly escaped. Banyumas Police chief Col. Isnandar
\nsaid the incident was under investigation. (imn\/nur\/aan\/45\/byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wiranto-vows-to-investigate-east-java-killings-1447893297",
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