Another Kadera worker dies

JAKARTA (JP): A worker of PT Kadera AR Indonesia, who was seriously injured after being attacked during a demonstration at the factory on March 29, died on Sunday morning.

Several nurses at Cipto Mangukusom General Hospital told The Jakarta Post that Rachmat Hidayat, 21, died at about 12:15 a.m. on Sunday.

"Rachmat regained consciousness for a while, three days after undergoing two operations on his stomach and thigh to remove shrapnel on March 30, but since the operation his health steadily declined," one of the nurses said.

Rachmat's uncle Sanip Supriyatno Sanip took his nephew's remains back to Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta, where he was buried later on Sunday afternoon.

Forensic doctor Slamet Poernomo, who conducted the autopsy, said Rachmat was a murder victim. Rachmat suffered from a broken thigh and received serious stomach injuries due to bomb shrapnel.

The attack at the automotive upholstery factory occurred as striking workers, camped at the factory, were resting.

A group of about 500 men armed with machetes, swords and homemade bombs suddenly arrived in seven buses and attacked the workers.

One worker, Kimun Effendi, 21, died on the scene from an exploding bomb.

The striking workers were demanding an increase in their salary and the dismissal of the company's vice president, Rulichi Sujatim.

Jakarta Police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Harry Montolalu said on Thursday that one of the six suspects in the attack, identified as Sugiono, admitted that he received Rp 27 million from another suspect, currently at large, to conduct the attack.

Speaking to journalists at the hospital's morgue on Sunday a lawyer for the striking workers, Hery Susetyo from the Center for Legal Advocacy and Human Rights (Paham), claimed that Indonesian Military personnel were involved in the attack. (01)