Moerdani quits session early due to ill health

Moerdani quits session early due to ill health

JAKARTA (JP): A frail-looking Gen.(ret) LB Moerdani was given
permission to leave his questioning session at the Attorney
General's Office on Friday after the former minister of
defense/armed forces chief could not comprehend investigators'
questions on the 1984 Tanjung Priok case.

Moerdani's lawyer Lt. Col. Purnomo said that after four hours
Moerdani had only managed to respond to three questions before
requesting permission to retire from the session.

The Attorney General's Office summoned Moerdani as a witness
in connection with the 1984 case, at which time he was the Armed
Forces Chief.

Purnomo said Moerdani often could not grasp the main point of
the questions posed to him by the investigation team, making the
exchange between them incomprehensible.

Attorney General's Office spokesman Muljohardjo confirmed that
Moerdani left the examination due to frail health.

"We believe the questioning of Moerdani was sufficient on this
occasion," he told The Jakarta Post.

Moerdani, who came to the Attorney General's Office
accompanied by his lawyers from the Indonesian Army's legal
affairs department did not speak to reporters as he was wheeled
away in a wheelchair to his car.

The Attorney General's Office on Friday also summoned former
vice president Gen.(ret) Try Sutrisno and Maj. Gen. Butarbutar,
who were Jakarta Military Commander and the North Jakarta
Military District Chief respectively at that time.

The New Order government claimed that the Sept. 12, 1984 clash
in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, was caused following provocative
lectures at the Rawa Badak Mosque by preachers criticizing the
government.

The government took tough measures on these activities which
resulted in a violent clash.

The National Commission on Human Rights said in a report that
there were 33 known fatalities in the incident, including 14
people whose identities remain unknown.(04)