Hermawan questioned over Yun Hap's death

JAKARTA (JP): City police summoned and questioned on Wednesday political observer Hermawan Sulistyo in connection with the fatal shooting on Sept. 24 of three persons in a crowd of protesters on Jl. Sudirman.

Hermawan, a researcher from the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the police interview was in regard to a public statement he had made, in which he claimed to be a eyewitness to the incident.

"I actually didn't want to go to city police headquarters, since five officers had already taken down my version of the story on Monday evening at my LIPI office," Hermawan told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Wednesday night.

"Still, I felt I was being forced to go. So I went with my lawyer Suci Madyo. The questioning was carried out in front of deputy police chief Brig. Gen. Sutanto.

"(The questioning) was very short, about 30 minutes," he said.

"It wasn't really questioning. Pak Sutanto, and even Pak (city police chief Maj. Gen.) Noegroho Djajoesman, later showed up to tell me to cooperate with the police, because they said they wanted to discover the identities of the people who shot Yun Hap."

The Sudirman shooting left at least three people dead, including student Yap Yun Hap from the state University of Indonesia.

A few minutes after the shocking incident, Hermawan told a Post reporter that he had been at the site when the apparently random shooting from passing security officer trucks occurred.

A close friend of Hermawan's, who requested anonymity, said the Jakarta Police were looking for a scapegoat.

"The police are not worried about why Yun Hap was killed. They're much more bothered about why Hermawan saw the body of the kid at the (nearby) Jakarta hospital, and what he was doing there," the source said.

Hermawan said police had first called him in for questioning late last week.

"I rejected (the call). So they came to my office on Monday. They took down my statement. Then they called me to come in on Tuesday to city police. I objected to it again," he said.

"On Wednesday, they forced me (to attend). So I came with my lawyer."

Hermawan said he had told the officers on Monday that he and his wife were at the hospital visiting the son of a friend who was injured on the night of Sept. 24 during the protest on Jl. Sudirman.

"As I was leaving at 8:55 p.m., I saw several kids (students) carrying a body full of blood (into the hospital). I saw the bullet wound. That's all," said Hermawan, who is also the coordinator of a fact-finding team into the incident.

"As coordinator of the team, I have lots of information. But, police didn't call me as the coordinator. They wanted to interrogate me as Hermawan, (the person) who saw the body of Yun Hap," he said.

"What it is for, I don't know." (ylt)