Military officers involved in July 27 incident: Yusril

JAKARTA (JP): A joint civilian-military court will try alleged perpetrators of the 1996 bloody takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Headquarters, a minister said on Monday.

Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the decision to establish a joint tribunal was taken after the police found traces of the involvement of military officers.

"The police have named seven civilian suspects, but are finding difficulties investigating the possible involvement of military officers.

"We promise to form a joint team to probe the alleged role of military personnel, which will lead to the establishment of the joint tribunal," Yusril said after a closed meeting with members of the House of Representatives Commission I for political, security and foreign affairs and the House's Commission II for legal and domestic affairs.

National Police chief Gen. Rusdihardjo, Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Adm. Widodo A.S. and Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono also attended the hearing.

The joint military-civilian team is expected to complete its work at least in two weeks, according to Yusril.

Juwono said during the joint hearing that about 20 people, including military officers, were recommended for investigation by the team.

"But we have agreed to keep the names (to ourselves) for a while," Juwono told reporters. He declined to mention the ranks of the military personnel.

Yusril also refused to identify the military officers linked to the attack on July 27, 1996 which followed a split in the party. Those that defended the PDI Headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro were supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was ousted in a government-backed breakaway congress which reelected Soerjadi.

Soerjadi tops the list of suspects in the case.

During Monday's hearing Rusdihardjo told the legislators the run-up of police investigation into the forcible takeover. Dozens were killed in the riot following the attack, while others went missing.

Juwono added that during the hearing TNI chief Widodo appeared to fully support the investigation into some military officers allegedly involved in the attack.

"The military leadership have good will; they don't want to conceal any wrongdoing and want this case to be settled immediately," Juwono said.

Rusdihardjo corroborated the decision to put the case on public trial, saying that the casualties of the takeover were mostly civilians.

"Since the case mostly affected civilians, it should be brought to a public court," Rusdihardjo said after the hearing.

Police have questioned several top officers who were in charge when the attack took place, including then Armed Forces commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung, National Police chief Gen. Dibyo Widodo, Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata, Jakarta Military commander Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso and the Armed Forces chief of social and political affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid. (bby/jun)