Banyuwangi residents unite to call for regent's dismissal

JAKARTA (JP): Residents of the East Java town of Banyuwangi urged on Monday the government to dismiss Regent Turyono Purnomo Sidik for his alleged involvement in the murders of 117 people between January and September, 1998.

The residents delivered to Director General for Sociopolitical Affairs Dunidjat at the Ministry of Home Affairs a petition that said Purnomo had lost the people's respect because of his neglect of their plight. The petition was signed by 101 Muslim and non- Muslim community leaders, youth leaders and relatives of the victims of the killing spree.

"The government must sack him at once," the delegation said in a document that was made available to the press at the headquarters of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization, whose members constitute the majority of the victims.

Dunidja promised to forward the petition "immediately" to Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid.

Said Aqil Siradj, the deputy chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, warned against the possibility of people taking the law into their own hands if the government drags its feet in responding to the demand.

"The situation is heated," Said insisted in the media conference.

He said people in the region were losing patience as the over 100 alleged killers being processed legally by local authorities were just "small-fry".

"Even now, the authorities have yet to demonstrate their seriousness in investigating and bringing the masterminds to justice," he said.

The East Java chapter of Nahdlatul Ulama has pointed to Purnomo's involvement through a memorandum that he sent out in February to district and village chiefs in which he listed "500 black magic practitioners" that he said needed protection from angry mobs.

As it turned out, many of those murdered were included in the list.

The killing, professionally committed by groups of men clad in black clothing in the fashion of Japanese ninja assassins, peaked in August through September. Nahdlatul Ulama has said the killing "scenario" was planned five months before it escalated.

The organization had earlier speculated that a campaign of political terror was behind the killing as the targeted areas were all Nahdlatul Ulama strongholds. It also believed the murders were meant to check the growing support for its political party, the People's Awakening Party.

According to Said, the number of victims altogether in six regencies in East Java has totaled 263 -- including those mobbed to death for their alleged roles as the ninjas.

The homicides occurred in Banyuwangi, Jember, Situbondo, Bondowoso, Sampang, Pamekasan and Pasuruan.

In Banyuwangi, 11 of the 117 victims chose to commit suicide by hanging rather than be killed, Said added.

He also said it was still possible for the organization to carry out its earlier threat of bringing the case to the International Court of Justice.

"For the moment, we are still waiting. We still have confidence in the government that it can settle the problem," he said. (aan)