Charged Kopassus chief can't understand why witnesses feel bullied
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) Commander Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan denied on Thursday allegations that his troops intimidated witnesses of the 1984 Tanjung Priok tragedy not to testify against him.
He urged any witnesses to file a legal complaint with the Military Police if they received such threats during the ongoing trial.
Speaking to journalists after appearing at Thursday's trial at the ad hoc human rights tribunal, Sriyanto said he would not prohibit his soldiers from coming to court to observe his trial as a defendant in the Tanjung Priok case.
He argued that all community members, including soldiers, were free to attend the trial.
"There are no regulations that ban troops from visiting the courtroom to observe the trial. I don't understand why their presence is perceived as intimidation.
"But if some of my soldiers have made threats, people can file an official complaint with the Military Police instead of slandering us," he said.
Hundreds of Kopassus soldiers have crowded the courtroom at every trial session of their commander.
Sriyanto is charged with direct involvement in the 2004 fatal shooting into a crowd of Muslim protesters in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.
Earlier on Tuesday, around 20 families of the victims reported being intimidated and asked the police to protect them.
They identified their intimidators as Kopassus personnel, and said the soldiers had threatened to kill them if they testified against Sriyanto and other military defendants.
Accompanied by their lawyers from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the victims' families also took their complaint on Thursday to National Military Police commander Maj. Gen. Sulaiman A.B.
During the meeting, Sulaiman promised to protect the victims, but stressed that he could not stop the soldiers from coming to court as observers.
Despite the complaints, hundreds of Kopassus soldiers thronged Sriyanto's trial on Thursday at the Central Jakarta District Court to show support for their commander.
The two-star general, 52, was a captain and head of the North Jakarta military district operational unit during the 1984 massacre.
Sriyanto is charged with ordering his troops from the North Jakarta Air Defense Artillery Battalion to open fire into a crowd of Muslim protesters without any prior warning.
At least 10 people were killed, and the troops continued to shoot as the protesters fled.
Sriyanto's lawyers told the ad hoc trial that they had no right to try their client over an incident that took place almost 20 years ago, arguing that the Tanjung Priok incident was not a gross human rights violation.
They asked the judges to dismiss the charges against Sriyanto, saying that under the 2000 law, only cases of gross human rights violations were tried by such tribunals.
Aside from Sriyanto, two retired generals, an Army captain and 10 privates are also on trial in the same case.
Their lawyers have said the troops were only following orders from their superiors.
The trial is adjourned until next Thursday.