City council takes cautious stance on Governor Sutiyoso

City council takes cautious stance on Governor Sutiyoso

JAKARTA (JP): While the media has widely announced that
Governor Sutiyoso is one of the suspects in the July 27, 1996
violent takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
headquarters, the City Council still takes a cautious stance on
the matter.

Council Speaker Edy Waluyo said on Wednesday the fate of
Sutiyoso would depend on the Court that will try the case.

"We will look for official confirmation from the Jakarta
Prosecutor's Office before we can decide on the possibility of
suspending Sutiyoso for the sake of the prosecution.

"The city council will take its position after receiving
formal notification from the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office. We will
then decide whether we need to suspend him for the duration of
the investigation or not," Edy told journalists.

He said the councillors would first study the case to
determine whether Sutiyoso's status as a suspect might have an
impact on his position or not.

Sutiyoso, who was the Jakarta Military Commander when the 1996
tragedy occurred, along with former Jakarta Police chief Insp.
Gen. Hamami Nata, had been named as a suspect in the tragedy.

The party headquarters takeover triggered mass unrest in
Central Jakarta, leaving at least five people killed and 23
others reported still missing.

Noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said the statements in the
press announcing Sutiyoso as a suspect should provide moral
justification for the Governor to voluntarily quit his office and
concentrate on dealing with the case.

"The question is when will he announce his resignation? Will
it be now or later when he has to face trial in court as it will
definitely hamper his everyday duties as governor?" Todung told
The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He said that there was no legal basis for Sutiyoso to step
down until the court declared him guilty.

"It's simply a moral responsibility, but it would be better if
he did voluntarily resign to aid the legal process and
concentrate on the case," Todung said.

Notification

Meanwhile, City administration spokesman Muhayat said the
governor had yet to receive any formal notification about his
status as a suspect in the case and the investigation team had
yet to summon him.

"The governor will not make any comment before he receives
formal notification.

"And we will not say whether he is going to temporarily leave
his office or not until we see the official statement," Muhayat
said on Wednesday.

Separately, former minister of education and culture Wardiman
Djojonegoro, who was questioned on Wednesday over his presence at
a ministerial meeting which was held two days before the bloody
incident, said he could not recall what had happened during the
meeting.

"It happened four years ago, I don't really remember much
about it anymore," Wardiman told reporters at the National Police
headquarters after being questioned by a joint military/police
investigation team.

As reported earlier, the July 24, 1996 meeting concluded that
the ongoing free speech forum at the party headquarters should be
stopped since it had disturbed public order.

Several former government officials, military, and police
officers who attended the meeting have also been questioned by
the joint team. (dja/jaw)