Feisal says neither he nor Soeharto ordered PDI attack

Feisal says neither he nor Soeharto ordered PDI attack

JAKARTA (JP): Police investigators may find it difficult to
draw conclusions over the criminal aspects of the July 27, 1996
attack on Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters as
witnesses have continued to give conflicting testimonies.

Former Armed Forces (ABRI) chief Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung
told national police investigators on Friday that neither he nor
former president Soeharto gave orders to attack the PDI
headquarters.

"I had never received orders from then president Soeharto to
take over the PDI headquarters," Feisal said in his written
testimony, which was read by his lawyer Col. Agus B. Setiawan.

"I also never gave orders to military officers to take over
the headquarters, nor was I informed of the takeover by my
subordinates once it happened."

"But if by any chance police find out that military personnel
were involved in the takeover, I, as the Armed Forces chief at
that time, will apologize," he added.

Arriving at the National Police headquarters on Jl. Trunojoyo
in South Jakarta at around 9:30 a.m. and leaving at around 11.30
a.m. under the watchful eyes of journalists, Feisal remained
tightlipped.

"Just ask my lawyers," he said before getting into a black
Volvo and driving off.

Earlier, former ABRI chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen.
(ret) Syarwan Hamid and former Jakarta military commander Lt.
Gen. (ret) Sutiyoso had testified before the police investigators
that the country's former "political patron" was behind the
takeover.

They did not name the former political patron, but it is
believed they were referring to Soeharto.

Lt. Gen. (ret) Soeyono, who was the ABRI chief of general
affairs at the time of the incident, testified that Soeharto did
not have anything to do with the takeover.

In the questioning led by Deputy National Police detectives
chief of general crimes Col. Makbul Padmanegara, Feisal was
accompanied by lawyers from the Indonesian Military legal affairs
department -- Maj. Nur Hajijah, Maj. S. Damanik, Capt. Bambang
Widarto, Capt. N. Sirait, Lt. Col. M.D. Purnomo and Col.
Setiawan.

Setiawan said Feisal, however, admitted that he attended a
meeting with Soeharto at his residence on Jl. Cendana in Central
Jakarta with several top ranking military officers one week
before the incident.

"But the meeting did not involve any plan to take over the
headquarters," Setiawan said while quoting Feisal.

The July 1996 riot broke down after a group of supporters
representing PDI's splinter faction leader Soerjadi -- which was
allegedly backed by some elements in ABRI -- raided and took over
the party headquarters from the supporters of the ousted PDI
leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Soerjadi replaced Megawati, who is now Vice President, in a
government-sponsored congress in May 1996.

The takeover triggered mass unrest throughout Central Jakarta,
resulting in the death of at least five people and injuring 149
others.

Meanwhile, 23 people are reportedly still missing.

Megawati has challenged the validity of the headquarters
takeover in court, but to no avail.

Police then reopened the investigation in February and named
13 suspects shortly after that, including Soerjadi who has been
under police arrest since April 11.

About half an hour after Feisal left the police headquarters,
deputy speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) A.M. Fatwa
was seen coming out of the General Crime department office.

Fatwa told the reporters that he had just visited Soerjadi and
given him a book written by Fatwa, titled "The Art of A Regime",
that has yet to be published.

"Soerjadi and I have something in common. We're the victims of
the New Order administration's political schemes," he said
bitterly. (09)