PDI July 27 tragedy to be brought to court

PDI July 27 tragedy to be brought to court

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After two years of on-and-off investigation, state prosecutors
revealed that they were to bring the security officers and
civilians allegedly involved in the July 27, 1996, violent
takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters in
Central Jakarta before the district court.

Head of the Jakarta Prosecutors' Office, Muljohardjo, said on
Monday that he had received three files that had been completed
by the Military Police and had arranged the question of court
jurisdiction with the military prosecutors as well.

He refused to comment in detail on the suspects.

Muljohardjo said that all suspects would be tried before a
civil court as the losses from the incident had all pertained to
the civilian side.

During a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission
II on legal and home affairs, Muljohardjo said that the
prosecution would be focusing on the field commanders who were in
charge of the military operation to evict Megawati's supporters
from the PDI headquarters.

"We will not be seeking the conviction of the higher
commanders as such charges are hard to prove," he said, citing
that all the suspects would be charged under Articles 170 and 406
of the Criminal Code on the use of violence.

The two articles carry two different maximum jail sentences --
between seven and nine-years imprisonment if the violence causes
severe injuries, and up to 12 years in jail if loss of life
results.

Without elaborating further, Muljohardjo told reporters after
the hearing that the first file was on Col. Purnomo, while the
others were on two civilians identified as Jonathan Marpaung and
Tanjung.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, who commanded the Jakarta military
during the tragedy, and former Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen.
Hamami Nata have also been implicated in the case. Sutiyoso has
said that he received the order from the president at the time.

Another big name tipped as being involved in the case is
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the current coordinating minister for
political and security affairs. It was Susilo who gave the order
to disperse Megawati's supporters.

The probe into the case has taken two years to complete due to
several attempts on the part of the suspects to halt the process.

The attack was designed to evict loyalists of the ousted PDI
leader Megawati Soekarnoputri from the party's headquarters at
Jl. Diponegoro No. 58, following a government-backed PDI congress
in Medan that elected Soerjadi as the party's new chairman in
June 1996.

The party headquarters' takeover triggered unrest throughout
Central Jakarta, resulting in the deaths of at least five people
with another 23 people still being on the missing list. Many
people believe that the number of deaths was higher.

Now the President and leader of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Megawati apparently prefers
to forget the incident as shown by her close links to the
military and, most recently, her full support for Sutiyoso's
reelection in the upcoming gubernatorial election.