Mystery of professor's murder

Since Prof. Dayan Dawood, Rector of Syiah Kuala University was assassinated, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have begun to accuse each other of being guilty and responsible for the murder.

Ultimately, only the police, once they have arrested those guilty of the crime, will be able to shed light on this mystery.

Published on the front page of Kompas on Sept. 8, 2001 an article mentioned that an international human rights watch group in New York had disclosed that at their last meeting with Prof. Dayan Dawood in December 2000, the professor had complained that his life was in danger.

The GAM demanded that Prof. Dayan Dawood donate Rp 200 million to the GAM and Rp 20 million from each of his staff members. These demands were submitted in writing from one of the district commanders claiming that if Prof. Dayan refused to pay he would become a target of the GAM.

Sidney Jones, a director of the International Human Rights Watch for Asia said that he condemned the murder and asked President Megawati to do her utmost to arrest the murderers and bring them to court.

The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta expressed their shock and said that this murder was a tragedy for the students and teaching staff at the university, the Acehnese as well as for all Indonesians.

SOEGIH ARTO

Jakarta