Court acquits Priok defendant

Court acquits Priok defendant

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta

Former Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen. (ret) Pranowo
implicated in a massacre 20 years ago walked free on Tuesday,
leaving a big question mark over the trial of his subordinate who
now commands the army's elite special forces.

Maj. Gen. (ret) Pranowo fell to the courtroom floor and kissed
it upon hearing the not guilty verdict, which meant that he did
not share the fate of then-North Jakarta military commander
Rudolph Butar Butar. On April 30, Butar Butar was sentenced to 10
years for his role in the Priok riot in which at least 24 people
were killed and 170 were alledged to have been later tortured by
the Military. Butar Butar is still free pending his appeal.

"Not guilty, legally and convincingly", presiding judge
Andriani Nurdin told the hearing of the ad hoc human rights court
in Central Jakarta.

Prosecutors had sought a five-year sentence for Pranowo for
"gross human rights violations" in the case of the 1984 Tanjung
Priok riot. He was charged of failing to stop his men from
torturing about 170 prisoners at two military police stations, in
Guntur, Central Jakarta and Cimanggis, east of Jakarta, following
a mass protest in the area near North Jakarta's port.

But the court said evidence was lacking as witnesses among the
former prisoners had withdrawn their testimonies, saying they had
spoken "under duress" because of "strong emotions" against the
Military.

"A witness who claimed he was held in a one-square-meter jail
could not show the exact location," the judge said.

On the night of Sept. 12, 1984, soldiers had fired gunshots at
protesters who demanded the release of four detained Muslim
activists. They had led a protest against the state ideology of
Pancasila and the government program of family planning, saying
that it was against their beliefs.

An investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights,
which followed demands of the reformasi movement to investigate
past human rights violations, concluded that at least 24 people
were killed and 54 injured in the shootings.

The latest verdict makes it increasingly unlikely the court
will grant the prosecutor's demand of 10 years jail for Pranowo's
deputy, Sriyanto Muntrasan.

Now a major general commanding the special forces (Kopassus),
his uniformed men have crowded the court room "in solidarity"
each time their commander appeared on trial; and court officials
and judges appeared to forget to reprimand Sriyanto's men when
they carried their weapons into the courtroom.

Judge Andriani said Pranowo might be guilty of "ordinary
rights abuses" but said these abuses were "beyond the court's
jurisdiction."

Pranowo was calm ahead of the reading of the verdict. Last
month after hearing the prosecutor's demand for the 10-year
sentence he said he was optimistic he would be freed.

Tuesday's decision follows on the heels of the acquittal last
week of four high-ranking security officials in another high
profile case involving atrocities in East Timor in 1999.