Police chief insistts Soerjadi innocent
Police chief insistts Soerjadi innocent
JAKARTA (JP): Amid unabated accusations of favoritism, the
police insisted Saturday that chief of the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI) Soerjadi was not involved in the July 27 riots.
Jakarta city police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said Saturday
said that Soerjadi, elected in a government-sanctioned congress
in June, would not be prosecuted without new evidence.
"No one can force us to make someone a suspect without
evidence," Hamami said as quoted by Antara on Saturday.
Hamami's comment was his second in two days in response to
public inquiries about why the authorities do not prosecute the
man who has admitted to having ordered the violent takeover of
the PDI's headquarters and the removal of Megawati
Soekarnoputri's supporters.
Megawati was democratically elected in an extraordinary
congress in 1993.
The July 27 attack on the headquarters sparked mass rioting
that led to at least five deaths. More than 100 people were
injured.
Observers have criticized the authorities for being partial in
their investigation into the takeover. Only Megawati's supporters
were prosecuted.
The authorities brought 124 Megawati supporters to court on
charges of violence and for disobeying a police order to clear
the area before the headquarters was taken over.
Most of the defendants were sentenced to four months and three
days in jail -- nearly the same length of time that they spent in
police custody -- for disobeying the order to disperse. Eight
others were acquitted of all charges, while another was jailed
for one month and 10 days.
In a related development, President Soeharto has approved of
the Attorney General's Office's request to question Soerjadi as a
witness to the July 27 riot, Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono
said on Friday.
By law, a House of Representatives member, like Soerjadi, can
only be questioned with the president's approval.
The Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI)
accused the police yesterday of turning a deaf ear to the
National Commission on Human Rights' findings that Soerjadi's
supporters had committed violence.
The authorities have ignored the commission's recommendations
that they investigate Soerjadi's supporters, the foundation said
in a statement signed by its chief, Bambang Widjojanto.
The commission, in its findings on the riot made public last
month, has called for Soerjadi and his supporters to be brought
to court for taking over PDI headquarters.
Bambang also said that the police's partial attitude was
obvious from the fact that it questioned only Soerjadi and failed
to look for other possible "actors" behind the takeover.
As for the City Police, Megawati's team of defense lawyers has
considered filing a lawsuit against Hamami over the police's
findings.
R.O. Tambunan, coordinator of Megawati's lawyers, said on
Friday that more than 100 witnesses could testify that Soerjadi
was involved in the attack. The police, however, have not
questioned them. (imn)