Military files dossiers on Nipah case

Military files dossiers on Nipah case

SURABAYA (JP): Chief of the Brawijaya Regional Military
Command Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo presented to the military tribunal
yesterday dossiers on the soldiers allegedly responsible for the
1993 deaths of four villagers of Nipah, Sampang, East Java.

Chief of the East Java police Maj. Gen. Roesmanhadi also
presented to chief of the tribunal Lt. Col. Yamini, the dossier
on a police officer suspected of having been involved in the
case.

The trial of the three soldiers, including the former
commander of Banyuates military resort, 2nd Lt. Djakfar Sudjak,
and the police officer will be held soon. "The sessions will be
open to the public," Imam Utomo said.

Another figure widely suspected of involvement in the
incident, former Sampang regent Bagus Hinayana, will probably go
to court only as a witness.

"He'll be summoned if it's considered necessary," Imam said.

Three men and a woman from the village on Madura Island were
killed in Sept. 1993 when troops opened fire on locals protesting
against a government team measuring land to be appropriated for a
reservoir.

The planned dam, which is supposed to submerge 170 hectares of
land belonging to some 240 families of farmers, is expected to
irrigate over 1,000 hectares of rice paddies. The project was
shelved in the wake of the incident.

The dossiers said that there will be 18 witnesses, nine of
whom are the Armed Forces's experts on weaponry. The remaining
nine are the villagers.

Imam said it took the military three years to complete the
dossiers because of the difficulties in finding witnesses among
the local people. "Only after some religious leaders approached
them did some people come forward," he said.

Munir of the Surabaya office of the Legal Aid Institute
rejected Imam's statements. He said his office had received
complaints about the incident since the beginning.

"Many of them have long expressed willingness to give
testimony in court. They have been demanding that the trials be
held soon," he said. "The legal aid office could have provided
the court with 20 witnesses."

Meanwhile, villagers are protesting that despite the
government's decision to cancel the appropriation project, the
local authorities are still proceeding with topographic
measurements. (15/swe)