Govt to form joint team to probe Freeport ambush
Govt to form joint team to probe Freeport ambush
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government will likely establish a joint investigative
team to probe the Aug. 31 fatal ambush in Timika, which claimed
the lives of two American teachers and one Indonesian, as the
police and the military have submitted contradictory reports on
their investigations.
Several military top brass and high-ranking police officers
held a closed-door meeting on Sunday at the offices of the
coordinating minister for political and security affairs to
discuss the results of their separate investigations.
Representatives from both the military and police
investigative teams presented all evidence they collected or
found on site, but they could not decide on who was responsible
for the attack at the mining site operated by American-owned PT
Freeport Indonesia.
The meeting also failed to decide on the motives behind the
attack.
Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie
Sjamsoeddin said Coordinating Minister for Political and Security
Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, TNI chief Gen. Endriartono
Sutarto and National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar would
discuss the matter with President Megawati Soekarnoputri on
Monday.
"All decisions regarding a further investigation will be
decided then," Sjafrie said after the meeting.
A source at the meeting said that if a joint investigative
team was formed, it would not include officers from abroad, such
as agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI).
The U.S. administration has asked for the establishment of a
Bali-style joint investigative team so that FBI agents would be
allowed to participate.
"If the FBI insists on joining us, they could just provide
technical assistance," the source told The Jakarta Post.
Attending the meeting were, among others, Army chief Gen.
Ryamizard Ryacudu, Navy chief Admiral Bernard Kent Sondakh, TNI's
Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS) chief Vice Marshal Ian
Santoso, TNI chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Djamari Chaniago,
National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. M.A. Erwin
Mappaseng and National Military Police Commander Maj. Gen.
Sulaiman AB.
According to one source at the meeting, National Military
Police Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. Hendardji reported that they
had found some 90 bullet cases at the site. Shots were believed
to have been made from several spots in the jungle near the
location.
"Nevertheless, Hendardji did not mention any names or groups
that are responsible for the ambush," the source told The Jakarta
Post.
Hendardji was assigned to Papua on Dec. 23 to conduct a
thorough investigation into the ambush amid conflicting
conclusions that resulted from the local military and police
investigative teams.
The police disclosed that they had found evidence linking the
Army to the deadly ambush.
TNI, however, has rejected the accusation and pointed a finger
at the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).