11 soldiers go on trial for abduction

JAKARTA (JP): The much-awaited trial of 11 Army Special Forces (Kopassus) soldiers charged with involvement in the abduction of political activists opened here on Wednesday.

The trial, held at the Jakarta Military Court in Klender, East Jakarta, opened with the military prosecutors reading out a 27- page document outlining the charges against the 11 defendants, three of them noncommissioned officers.

The tightly-guarded courtroom was packed with, among others, relatives of the activists who are still missing, human rights activists, journalists and about 50 colleagues of the defendants.

Among those present was Pius Lustrilanang, one of those allegedly kidnapped and tortured by the defendants. Pius, who was kept blindfolded during most of his ordeal, claimed to recognize the voices of some of the defendants.

The defendants were Maj. Bambang Kristiono, Capt. F.S. Multhazar, Capt. Nugroho Sulistyo Budi, Capt. Julius Selvanus, Capt. Untung Budi Harto, Capt. Dadang Hendra Yudha, Capt. Jaka Budi Utama, Capt. Sauka Noor Farid, Chief Sgt. Sunaryo, Chief Sgt. Sigit Sugianto and First Sgt. Sukadi.

They -- while under the command of former president Soeharto's son-in-law Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, now retired -- were believed to have been involved in the kidnapping and torture of at least 23 activists since April last year.

However, the charges slapped on them Wednesday only involved the abduction of nine activists that have reappeared with tales of torture and being kept in solitary confinement.

One other activist has been found dead and 13 are still missing.

Military prosecutor Col. Harom Wijaya said in reading the charges the 11 soldiers were members of the "Rose Team" within Kopassus and had abducted at least nine people in February and March.

Harom said the team had been set up by Bambang in July last year and arrested "individuals deemed radical because his conscience called for safeguarding the national interest."

"Bambang told the team this was a covert operation using a 'black method' with an independent post of command inside Kopassus' headquarters in Cijantung, East Jakarta," Harom told the court.

If found guilty, Harom said, the defendants, who have been detained since July 14, face up to seven years imprisonment.

Despite Armed Forces (ABRI) pledges to root out those responsible, the trial has drawn sharp criticism from some who say junior officers are being made scapegoats for their seniors and the Armed Forces (ABRI) as a whole.

Munir, the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), described the court martial as a "farce."

The trial, he told a press conference later in the afternoon, was only "to minimize the faults of ABRI as an institution and turn it into a procedural mistake by a number of Kopassus members."

"The charges do not point to a hierarchy in the command that led to the decision to abduct the activists but instead they are formulated so that it appears as if the abductions were the personal initiative of the defendants," Munir said.

Munir also questioned why the charges did not mention the torture that the victims have said they were subjected to.

Munir has said that in spite of testimonies from most of the nine activists that they had been tortured by the defendants in detention, the Military Police have never carried out medical examinations.

Harom told reporters earlier the defendants would not be charged with torture as the military prosecutors did not find any reports of torture of the activists in the dossiers of the defendants.

Munir also said the trial was designed to protect higher officers, and said Kontras objected to the trial being held before the military had located the 13 missing activists.

ABRI chief Gen. Wiranto honorarily discharged Prabowo from the military and released two other senior Kopassus officers, Maj. Gen. Muchdi Purwopranjono and Col. Chairawan, from active duty in August. Prabowo is now in Jordan.

Prosecutors said on Wednesday they would call 17 witnesses, including eight of the kidnapping victims, three soldiers and three policemen.

The court, which was presided over by Col. C.H.K. Sutanto, adjourned before noon and was set to resume on Dec. 31. (byg)