112 army, 13 police personnel charged in Madiun clash

Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

The joint team set up to investigate September's army-police clash in Madiun, in which three teenagers were killed, has charged 112 army and 13 police personnel as suspects, and they will now be brought to court, East Java Military Police chief Col. Soejono said here on Wednesday.

Speaking to five members of House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I, Soejono said that 207 people consisting of military and police personnel, students and local residents, had been questioned.

"We questioned 35 police officers before deciding that 13 of them could formally be charged as suspects," he said.

"The charges against the 125 suspects differ. We have prepared nine indictments against them and the files have been grouped together according to the acts they committed."

The indictments covered the initial incident at a gas station up to the fatal shooting of three high school students, Soejono said. "We have to separate the indictments very clearly so as to make the legal proceedings easier."

On Sept. 15, fighting erupted between members of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad)'s 501st Airborne Infantry Battalion and Madiun Police officers. The clashes, which claimed three teenagers' lives, flared up over a small dispute between members of the two organizations.

Kostrad chief Lt. Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu then discharged the commander of Kostrad's 501st Airborne Infantry Battalion, Maj. Komistin Hadirin, and his deputy Maj. Nurcholid, as well as 20 members of the battalion, over the deadly attack on Madiun Police station and several other police stations at midnight on Saturday.

Madiun Police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eddy Hariyanto was also discharged three days later.

East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Sutanto, who attended Wednesday's hearing with the House members, said that seven AK 101 rifles, seven SKS rifles and five pistols had been seized as evidence. "The investigators also found 23 cartridge cases." Unfortunately, the investigators did not recover a single projectile from the bodies of the dead victims."

"The police officers who became involved in the clash were those who were upset following the seizure of one SKS rifle and four pistols by members of the 501st Infantry Battalion. The soldiers had also threatened to attack them soon."

"Our men, including the Mobile Brigade, then readied themselves to respond to the threat. They were in a life or death situation and had to defend their headquarters. It was in these circumstances that a large group of students on motorbikes passed by. Our men thought they were members of the Infantry Battalion who were going to attack them. The electricity was also out that night," Sutanto explained.

"But we recovered projectiles from the bodies of three survivors, Agung, Edwin and Dimas, while they were being treated at the Saiful Anwar Hospital in Malang. The projectiles are being examined by the National Police Headquarters Laboratory in Jakarta. We hope that the projectiles will determine who shot the students."

Permadi, who led the House team, said that the House expected a joint tribunal be set up. "We don't want such a fatal incident to happen again in the future."