Families protest fatal shootings

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Military Police was urged on Thursday to step up its efforts to reveal the names of military members believed to have been involved in tragic incidents in the capital, ranging from last year's May riots to the Trisakti and Semanggi fatal shootings.

Approximately 50 members of the victims' families staged a sit-in in front of Military Police Headquarters in Manggarai, South Jakarta, to press their demands.

Scores of university students and several staff members from the Volunteers Team for Humanity joined the protesters, grouped under the Association of the Victims of Political Violence.

The protesters included parents of the students killed in the fatal shootings.

"The protesters urged the military police to bring the shooters responsible for the Semanggi and Trisakti incidents and also the actors behind the May riots to court," Father Sandyawan Sumardi of the team told The Jakarta Post.

They also demanded the government compensate the victims for all medical expenses, he said.

Sandyawan said members of the victims' families had hoped to meet city Military Police commandant Col. Mungkono Mursidi, but failed as the commandant apparently refused their request.

"The commandant did not show up until 5 p.m.," he said, adding that the families insisted on continuing in their efforts to meet with him.

The protesters did not air any speeches during the protest and tried to be "accommodative" toward the military police officers.

In the Trisakti and Semanggi shooting incidents, which occurred in May and November last year respectively, several students were killed. Military personnel are believed to be behind the incidents. (asa)