Megawati supporters defy gathering ban by police

JAKARTA (JP): About 5,000 Megawati Soekarnoputri supporters gathered at her residence last night in defiance of a police ban to commemorate the July 27 1996 riot.

Streaming in from various provinces, they gathered at the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) ousted leader's residence to remember the tragedy, the worst seen in Jakarta for 20 years.

At least five people were killed and 23 are still missing due to the riot, according to the National Commission on Human Rights. Dozens of offices, banks, shops and government buildings were set alight or vandalized.

The riot was triggered by the forceful takeover of PDI's headquarters in Central Jakarta by supporters of Soerjadi, who ousted Megawati June last year in a government-backed congress.

Present at the noisy function were senior PDI politicians loyal to Megawati, diplomats from embassies in Jakarta and supporters from all walks of life.

A diplomat, who decline to give his nationality, said he came to give his "spiritual sympathy" to Megawati and her supporters and that he had nothing to do with politics.

The commemoration consisted of Koran reading by Moslem clerics and poem reading by Megawati's senior lawyer, R.O. Tambunan.

Uniformed police officers were seen directing traffic in the streets leading to the venue but their presence was not conspicuous.

In her brief spontaneous speech, Megawati said the July 27 tragedy was still fresh in everyone's mind and was a "blot on Indonesia's history".

"The state ideology Pancasila encourages harmony but irresponsible people resorted to violence to achieve their goal," she said in an emotional tone.

"The forced takeover of the (PDI) headquarters blackened Indonesia's history," she added.

Police had repeatedly said the gathering was prohibited because the organizers did not have an official permit. Megawati loyalists said the permit was unnecessary because they invited no one, although people were free to attend.

Megawati said the event was "religious in nature" and that they had given notification to the police because they considered a permit unnecessary.

Meanwhile, chief of city police detectives, Col. Gories Mere, said the authorities have prohibited Megawati supporters' plan to lay wreaths in front of the party's headquarters today.

"If they defy the ban, they will be forcibly dispersed and the leaders arrested," he told journalists at city police headquarters last night.

He said police have arrested two people on suspicion of distributing leaflets urging people in Cileduk, in Jakarta's western outskirts, to take part in today's procession to lay wreaths at the party headquarters.

The suspects were identified as Abdullah, 22, and Syarifuddin, 21, both from Cileduk. Police seized two motorcycles and hundreds of anonymous leaflets from them.

Mere said the suspects were facing charges of defaming the President and Vice President, insulting other government officials and instigating people into committing crimes.

If found guilty of all the charges, they could face up to 16 years in jail, he added. (imn/10/jun)