July 27 tragedy marked peacefully in other cities

July 27 tragedy marked peacefully in other cities

SURABAYA (JP): Commemorations of the bloody incident in
Jakarta on July 27, 1996, passed off peacefully yesterday in
several cities across the country.

Troops and police officers appeared to be tolerant of street
rallies staged by loyalists of ousted Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI) Megawati Soekarnoputri in the Central Java cities of
Purwokerto and Semarang, and also in South Sulawesi capital of
Ujungpandang, despite the rallies being formally banned.

Here, no street rallies were staged to mark the forcible
takeover of the PDI headquarters in Jakarta, which left at least
five dead and 23 missing.

Instead, 300 Megawati supporters gathered at the PDI office on
Jl. Kendangsari Industri 57 to pray and watch video footage of
the incident.

The commemoration was led by Megawati faction chapter chief
Sutjipto and was attended by noted human rights lawyer Trimoelja
D. Soerjadi.

Participants used the occasion to award an "honor from the
people" to former East Java military commander Maj. Gen. Djadja
Suparman -- now Jakarta military chief -- for his success in
keeping Megawati loyalists and the whole province calm during the
recent unrest.

The group was referring to the massive destruction during
rioting in May that took place especially in Jakarta, some West
Java towns and the Central Java town of Surakarta.

The award was also given because Djadja invited Sutjipto to
attend his transfer of duty to his successor Maj. Gen. Djoko
Subroto.

Sutjipto regarded the invitation last July 17 as "a brave
recognition (of his position as legitimate PDI chief)" from a
high-ranking military officer.

In Malang, another East Java town, the tragedy was
commemorated with a speech contest, the theme of which was
democracy. Antara did not say how many people participated or who
won the competition.

In Semarang -- which has suffered a bout of rumors that fresh
violence would break out yesterday -- hundreds attended the
commemoration held at a branch office on Jl. Brigjen Katamso.

Antara said the businesses in the city were running as usual
the whole day through.

Later on in the day, some Megawati supporters marched to the
nearby mayor's office on Jl. Pemuda -- under tight security -- to
announce their demand that Minister of Home Affairs Lt. Gen.
Syarwan Hamid and Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and
Security Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung resign over their alleged
involvement in the bloody incident.

Feisal and Syarwan were respectively Armed Forces (ABRI)
commander and the ABRI chief for sociopolitical affairs at the
time.

Both men -- under former president Soeharto's regime -- were
also backers of Soerjadi who held the party's breakaway congress
to topple Megawati in Medan, North Sumatra, one month before the
July 27 tragedy.

Syarwan explained yesterday that he was not entirely
responsible for the incident.

In Purwokerto and Ujungpandang, the commemoration was marked
with street rallies by Megawati loyalists, with police giving
only mild warnings to organizers to keep events orderly.
(nur/43/37/23/44)