Indonesia protests fatal shooting of Sgt. Lirman

Indonesia protests fatal shooting of Sgt. Lirman

JAKARTA (JP): The Government of Indonesia strongly protested
to UNTAET the fatal shooting in Indonesian territory of First
Sgt. Lirman Hadimu, a member of Indonesian Infantry Battalion 726
in Belu regency on Saturday.

The Directorate of Foreign Information at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, in its written statement made available to the
media on Monday, said that Indonesia attached enormous importance
to a full scale probe into the shooting to ensure that those
responsible for this act be held fully accountable.

It said that Indonesia had submitted a formal complaint to
UNTAET.

First Sgt. Lirman was shot in the village of Alas, Belu, East
Nusa Tenggara, close to the East Timorese border. Initial reports
indicated that Lirman was not in military uniform at the time and
a victim of an unprovoked attack by the United Nations Peace-
Keeping Force (UN-PKF).

"In view of the gravity of the matter, we expect a prompt and
serious response from UNTAET so that urgent steps are taken to
prevent a recurrence of such an incident," the media announcement
read.

Despite the official protest by the Indonesian government,
Udayana Military chief Maj. Gen. Wellem T. da Costa told The
Jakarta Post in Kupang on Monday that the shooting of Lirman was
"understandable".

Udayana Military Command handles the regions of Bali, West and
East Nusa Tenggara.

"Based on (initial) site investigations, the deceased had
acted against military regulations. He left a security post to
enter the neutral zone, not in military uniform -- though armed
-- without the permission of the picketing officers," Wellem
said. "Based on the facts the Indonesian Military (TNI) has to
accept the incident."

He later confirmed that the shooting was in accordance with
procedures. "In such a neutral zone around the border, security
is very tight. Nobody is allowed to conduct any type of activity
unless permission is granted from military troops (from the two
countries) guarding the area."

"He (Sgt. Lirman) might have been behaving irrationally, he
had been stubborn by deciding to go alone through the neutral
border zone, although he knew about military procedure," Wellem
said.

TNI and UN-PKF have agreed to set up a joint investigation
into the incident.

TNI's East Timor border task force commander Lt.Col. Magna
Chandra said on Monday that UN-PKF admitted they carried out the
shooting.

According to Wellem, the UN-PKF chief, Lt. Gen. Brondsman, had
also admitted that one of the UN-PKF's soldiers had shot Sgt.
Lirman.

"When shot, he (Lirman) was only about two meters from the
bank of a river, which is acknowledged as the border, while the
UN-PKF patrol were about 75 meters away," said Wellem.

However, he said that legally the two countries, Indonesia and
East Timor did not actually have a very clear border.

"Officially a clear border has yet to be set up. The existing
(acknowledged) border is based on a map made by Portugal."

In a related development, chief of Wirasakti Military Resort
Col. Budi Heryanto said he would lodge an official complaint with
the United Nations about the shooting.

"Lirman was still in Indonesian territory. The UN-PKF soldier
violated procedures," Budi said. (30/sur)