Dossiers of 11 soldiers ready for court-martial
JAKARTA (JP): Dossiers of 11 members of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) will be submitted next Tuesday to a court- martial on their role in the abductions and torture of political activists.
"The dossiers will be submitted so the court-martial can start soon," National Military Police chief Maj. Gen. Syamsu Djalal was quoted by Antara news agency as saying on Tuesday.
Pius Lustrilanang -- one of the nine of an estimated 24 abducted activists who has resurfaced -- is the only one to have expressed willingness to sign the dossiers, said Syamsu, who is also the deputy attorney general for intelligence.
Abducted in February, Pius reappeared two months later. In April, he was the first activist to go public with an account of his abduction. He related episodes of torture during his captivity and threats against his person if he spoke publicly of his experience.
The other activists have said they will only be willing to sign the dossiers if they are allowed to meet the 11 Kopassus members to ask about the whereabouts of 14 other activists still missing.
The military police said they could only meet the suspects in the court-martial.
The independent Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) estimated that at least 24 activists went missing beginning in April last year. One was found dead last May. Like Pius, others who resurfaced related harrowing tales of physical and mental torture.
The Armed Forces (ABRI) announced the alleged involvement of Kopassus members in the abductions of political activists in July.
Minister of Defense and Security/ABRI Chief Gen. Wiranto then discharged former Kopassus chief Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto -- a son-in-law of former president Soeharto -- and removed two senior Kopassus officers from active duty in August for their involvement in the abductions of political activists.
Syamsu said on Saturday the investigators were still looking for further evidence to prosecute Prabowo.
Kontras' coordinator, Munir, has argued that no military tribunal should be held until all of the missing activists reappear because it would not be legally feasible to bring the officers to another trial for the same case should further evidence be found later on.
Wiranto said in August the military did not know the whereabouts of the activists and promised to keep searching for them.
Munir has said that ABRI, which has been battered by revelations of alleged human rights abuses, could not afford the disclosure of more past wrongdoing.
He said recently that ABRI was caught in "political difficulties" over those who are still missing.
"ABRI is still calculating the implications if it announces that there are a number of people among these 14 activists who are already dead," he said. (byg)