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)