PDI attack was ordered by superiors: Sutiyoso

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso, a suspect in the July 27, 1996 violent attack on the Megawati Soekarnoputri-led PDI headquarters, insisted on Tuesday that the attack was based on the order of his superiors at the time.

"My answer remains the same, that the takeover of the PDI (Indonesian Democratic Party) headquarters was based on the command of my superiors," Sutiyoso, who was the Jakarta military commander at that time, told reporters after being questioned for about seven hours by a joint police-military interrogation team at the military police headquarters here.

The governor, who together with former Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Hamami Nata, have been named as suspects in the incident, which left at least five dead and 23 people missing. He has persisted in claiming that the bloody attack was simply based on the results of top-level meetings, including a ministerial meeting held two days before the incident.

"Those meetings resulted in the July 27 incident," Sutiyoso said quickly and rushed to his car.

According to Sutiyoso, the initiative to take over the headquarters, which had been home to PDI supporters and was a forum for free-speech, started at a meeting in the residence of former president Soeharto on Jl. Cendana on July 19, 1997, and was followed by a briefing, three days later, by the former chief of Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) Gen. Feisal Tanjung at the ABRI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, and a further 'special (ministerial) meeting' took place at the office of the then coordinating minister for political and security affairs on July 25.

During the questioning, the first after he had been named a suspect, Sutiyoso was accompanied by his team of military lawyers, including Col. AB Setiawan, Maj. Nur Azizah, and Maj. Darwin Sagala.

Interrogators from the joint team consisted of Col. Hendroyono, Col. Hendardji, and Lt. Col. Sutarno from the military and Sr. Supt. Surya Dharma, and Supt. Hari Pribadi from the police.

A member of the team, who requested anonymity, said the suspect was questioned to find out whether he knew any details of the July, 25, 1997 ministerial meeting at minister Soesilo's office.

It's also designed to trace out whether the former city military commander conducted the violent takeover under his own initiative, he explained.

Asked about the result of the questioning, he said the investigation on Sutiyoso seemed to be a 'setback' because the suspect kept on saying that the forcible takeover of the PDI headquarters was decided during the meeting.

His testimony has been different with those already stated by other officials, such as Feisal Tanjung, then home affairs minister Yogie S. Memet, foreign minister Ali Alatas, justice minister Oetojo Oesman, defense minister Gen. (ret) Edi Sudrajat, National Police chief Gen. (ret) Banurusman Astrosemitro, and former Attorney General Singgih, who all attended the meeting.

"When questioned, they (the other officials) all admitted that they proposed persuasive ways of taking over the party's headquarters," he told The Jakarta Post. (02)