Activists hail July 27 case reopening

Activists hail July 27 case reopening

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

Right activists welcomed the reopening of the investigation into
the July 27, 1996 melee at the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
in Central Jakarta, but they questioned the motives behind the
move.

Human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said on Tuesday that he
agreed that the case should be resolved as soon as possible as it
had been demanded by the public for years, but expressed concern
that it was now being used as a political tool to discredit other
presidential candidates.

"The case should have been resolved years ago. But I also
understand that many people are suspicious about motives as the
reemergence of the case is announced during the (presidential)
campaign period," Lubis said. The election is on July 5.

The investigation team comprises the police, the Attorney
General's office and the military. They will reopen the
investigation into the violence that claimed five lives, injured
149 and left 23 others missing, according to official figures. On
Monday they promised to hand over the case files to the
prosecutor's office by next week.

At least one presidential candidate could be implicated in the
case -- the Democratic Party's Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- who
was the chief of staff of the Jakarta Military in 1996 when the
incident occurred. He was questioned by the investigating team as
witness over the case in 2000 but was not implicated.

Susilo, who leads the current President in public opinion
surveys by over 30 points, however, was not on the suspect list
released by the military police in 2002.

Another rights activist Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid
and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said the case should have
been processed with or without political influence.

"We can smell political motives here because the case should
have been resolved a long time ago, that is, if the current
government had the political will to do so. It shouldn't be done
in the middle of a presidential election," said Hendardi.

He remarked that the case had been used as a bargaining tool
by President Megawati Soekarnoputri vis-a-vis the military.

She did not process the case when she needed support from the
security forces (earlier in her term), but on Monday she reopened
the case in the midst of a battle for votes against military
candidates, he said.

Meanwhile, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said that
there was no specific order from the President over the case.

"It is merely coincidence that we found new evidence at this
time to complete the six dossiers that were earlier rejected by
the prosecutor's office. But it is a normal part of our legal
process to try to resolve an old case," Da'i said.

The National Police deputy chief of detective Insp. Gen.
Dadang Garnida refused to give details on the interrogation
schedule of the suspects and witnesses but said that they could
question Susilo if necessary.

"We have questioned (Susilo) as a witness before. We will
summon him to the headquarters if we need more information from
him," said Dadang.