Military ready to reopen probe into Marsinah case

Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Maj. Gen. A.D. Sikki, chief of the Brawijaya Military Command overseeing East Java, said the local military was ready for the proposed reopening of the investigation into the savage murder of labor activist Marsinah, an employee of PT Catur Putra Surya watchmaker in Sidoarjo, in May 1993.

Sikki was responding to a recent statement by BN Marbun, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, that according to a DNA test in Australia, a blood sample taken from the Sidoarjo military subdistrict office was identical to Marsinah's blood, an indication that the victim was tortured in the office before her mutilated body was found in a forest in the province and that the local military was involved.

He, however, said he was skeptical about the test's results because according to an examination by the police forensic laboratory, the blood sample was different to Marsinah's DNA.

"Marbun's statement is confusing because he said he had gained the information on the Australian test's results from a top police official, while National Police chief Da'i Bachtiar said recently that the Australian test results had yet to be dispatch to Indonesia," he said.

Sikki said he would not prevent the reopening of the investigation or the investigation of servicemen allegedly involved in the murder.

"Of the utmost importance is that the investigation and its conclusion must be based on material evidence so that it can be taken into account before the public," he said.

But Sikki declined comment after watching the film Marsinah, Cry for Justice at the Mitra 21 Theater in the city on Friday night.

Before her death, Marsinah was arrested and interrogated under former president Soeharto's military-style regime for leading a labor strike to demand better pay and labor conditions.

Separately, Adj. Sr. Comr. Said Harunantyo, East Java Police spokesman, confirmed that the blood sample taken from the Sidoarjo military subdistrict office was declared identical to Marsinah's.

However, he said that despite being identical, the test's results were still unclear because the results of only one of four samples had been given.

He said he was skeptical that this test's results could be taken as new evidence to reopen the investigation.

According to the results of a test conducted by the DR. Sutomo General Hospital, the blood sample taken from places where Marsinah was before her death were identical to her DNA.

Harunantyo, however, said that the police had no schedule to reopen the investigation.

"The police investigation into the case has been finished. What we are waiting for is an answer from the Supreme Court whether the latter will accept the request by many labor unions, the human rights body and the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) to review the case," he said, implying the investigation would be reopened should the request be accepted.

He said he had seen the film and did not feel undermined by it.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Muslim Labor Union (Sarbumusi) proposed that Indonesian Labor Day be celebrated on May 8, the date Marsinah was killed, instead of May 1.

"Marsinah should be taken as symbol of Indonesian workers' struggle and the date of her death should be set to celebrate Labor Day in the country," Gordon Harahap, chairman of the local office of Sarbumusi, said at a media conference here on Saturday.

He said Sarbumusi was still lobbying other labor unions to accept the proposal.

Brig. Gen. Heru Susanto, deputy chief of the Esat Java Police, said the police did not object to the proposal but the celebration should be conducted according to procedure.