Moslems demand fresh probe into Priok case

Moslems demand fresh probe into Priok case

JAKARTA (JP): Moslem preachers and thousands of followers
demanded on Sunday a fresh investigation into the 1984 killing of
Moslems in Tanjung Priok, and that the military leaders at the
time -- including former vice president Try Sutrisno and former
Armed Forces commander L.B. (Benny) Moerdani -- be held
accountable.

Gathering under a scorching sun outside the Al Husna Mosque in
the North Jakarta's port area, fiery preachers, witnesses, and
survivors took turns to recount their experiences of the violence
when Try was Jakarta military commander and Moerdani was the
chief of the Kopkamtib national security agency.

Many spoke of how the military opened fire at Moslem
demonstrators at close range, killing hundreds of them. Moerdani
insisted then that 18 died and 53 others were injured.

"Those who said that only nine or dozens died, they were all
liars!" shouted a survivor, who said he was in the same car that
transported slain preacher Amir Biki from the site to a military
office. Among those who spoke at the gathering yesterday were
preachers Abdul Qadir Djaelani and Syarifien Maloko, and Munir of
the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence
(Kontras).

Most agreed that the government and rights organizations had
not been as enthusiastic in fighting for the release of Moslem
political prisoners and the reopening of cases of violations of
rights which concerned Moslems. Unfurled banners read, among
others, "Military Police and National Commission of Human Rights,
Don't Discriminate Against Moslems. Investigate slaughters of
Moslems!" and "Bring Try, Benny Moerdani ... to court!"

Munir said the Tanjung Priok case was an example of state
violence against the people. Violent clashes broke out on Sept.
12, 1984, when about 1,500 Moslem youths -- said to be inflamed
by fiery preachers -- marched through the streets and attacked
security forces in the port area to demand the release of four
companions arrested the previous day for attacking a security
guard, according to an official statement.

The Moslems, however, said the Sept. 11 attack occurred
because the security guard smeared sludge from a gutter on three
posters on a mosque's wall calling on Moslem women to dress
modestly, according to Tempo magazine.

Preacher Abdul Qadir Djaelani, who spent 10 years in jail
after he was accused of instigating the Moslem rioters, spoke of
torture at the hands of the military after he was arrested.
Djaelani, who also spent years in jail during founding president
Sukarno's regime, said the situation had not changed much even
now that B.J. Habibie had replaced Soeharto.

"The government, the House of Representatives, even the
National Commission on Human Rights, are afraid of ... revealing
what really happened in the Tanjung Priok case," he charged. "So
instead, they established the National Reconciliation Team to
bury old wounds just like that.

"Islam does not teach revenge. But Islam teaches qishash
(retribution)," he said, to deafening shouts of Allahu Akbar
(Allah is Great) from the congregation.

Amir Syarifuddin, a survivor of the violence, showed scars of
bullet injuries on his head and told of how his leg was almost
paralyzed after he was beaten repeatedly with rifle butts. (swe)