PDI-P wants govt to speed up probe on July 27 case
JAKARTA (JP): City councillors of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) want the government to immediately resume a probe into the July 27, 1996 forcible takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters.
Speaking to The Jakarta Post by phone on Sunday, they emphasized finding justice instead of using a political vendetta, especially toward Governor Sutiyoso.
Councillor Ugiek Soegihardjo said his party had repeatedly urged the government to soon bring the dossiers to court in order to ascertain legal certainty on those involved in bloody attack four years ago.
"The sooner they bring the dossiers to the court, the better. Only then will we have legal certainty," he said, adding that he denied his party would use Sutiyoso's alleged role to topple the governor.
"It's important here to separate Sutiyoso's position as then city military commander and as governor. We can't mix them up as we have to be objective. There has as yet been no legal decision on his alleged involvement in the bloodshed," he added.
Sutiyoso, a retired Army lieutenant general, was the Jakarta Military commander when the takeover occurred following a discord between the camps of then ousted party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri and rival Soerjadi, who received strong support from the government at the time.
Many groups of residents have demanded that Sutiyoso step down from his current post over his alleged role in the crime. The governor recently faced another painful attack when his accountability speech was rejected by the City Council.
But Ugiek vowed that PDI Perjuangan would not mix up the cases.
"I was mobbed by soldiers of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) in the Gambir incident (hours after the attack at the headquarters). My head was bleeding.
"But we, the victims, won't take any revenge of any sort," he added.
Aziz Boeang, from the same party, questioned the slow pace of the joint investigation team probing the case, possibly due to new personnel.
"If it's up to me, the joint team can use the existing police dossiers as a guide, instead of conducting new investigations from the beginning," he added.
Separately, a lawyer of Sutiyoso, Indra Sahnun Lubis, said on Sunday he rejected the joint investigation team's plan to question the governor as a suspect in the case.
"We'll send our objection to the team if Pak Sutiyoso is to be summoned and investigated as a suspect. We are in no position to obstruct the investigation," Indra told satunet.com.
"But we'll send the objection letter first, before we answer the summons," he added.
The National Police investigated the governor in May and declared him a witness instead of a suspect, as had been demanded by many of the victims and political activists.
Sutiyoso admitted he was at the location during the takeover.
"I went to the vicinity of the takeover after I got reports from my officers that the situation was getting worse," the governor told reporters after the investigation earlier in May.
"It was my duty as a military commander to check any reports received from my staff," he added.
Sutiyoso has repeatedly told reporters he would follow any decisions made regarding the law.
"I'll just follow the legal procedures," he said.
Dozens of Megawati-led PDI loyalists were believed to have been killed in the attack, which later ignited riots in several areas in the capital. (nvn)