Police name 11 suspects in PDI HQ attack

Police name 11 suspects in PDI HQ attack

JAKARTA (JP): The National Police Headquarters disclosed on
Monday that its investigation of the attack on the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters on July 27, 1996 has been
accomplished.

Speaking to reporters after the questioning of then Army Chief
of Staff Gen. (ret) Raden Hartono, the last of the 190 people
questioned, National Police Deputy Chief of Detectives for
General Crimes Col. Makbul Padmanegara said that his office so
far has named 11 suspects in the case.

"With the completion of our investigation, we will soon summon
the seven dossiers of the 11 suspects to the prosecutors office,"
Makbul said.

All of the 11 suspects are civilians.

According to Makbul, it's beyond police authority to name
military officers as suspects.

"We can only ask them to testify as witness. But we are going
to give some input to the military commander, and the rest is up
to National Military Police Headquarters to investigate further,"
he said.

When asked about the alleged role of then president Soeharto,
Makbul said: "Based on witnesses' testimonies, there has been no
hint of former president Soeharto's involvement in the incident.

According to witnesses, Soeharto only gave normative
directions regarding the national security situation at that
time," said Makbul.

He identified the suspects as former PDI chairman Soerjadi;
former deputy chairman Alex Widya Siregar; former secretary-
general Buttu Hutapea; party executive board members Romulus
Sihombing and Harsoko Sudiro; party member Yonathan Marpaung;
executive of Pemuda Pancasila youth organization Yorrys Raweyai;
and four men -- M. Tanjung, Pratomo, Edi Kisworo and Rosyid --
dubbed as members of the Johar Baru group.

The four men were said to have hired local Johar Baru
residents to join them in the attack.

All of the suspects, Makbul said, were charged with violation
of Article 170 of the Law on Criminal Code about attacking and
oppression, and Article 200 about deliberately damaging a
building.

Article 170 carries a maximum sentence of nine years while
Article 200 carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.

Makbul insisted that the National Police carried out the
questioning and investigation of the case transparently and
independently.

"This is good momentum to maintain law supremacy in the
country," he said.

The 190 people questioned over the case comprised 92
civilians, 29 police personnel and 29 military officers.

The last witness, Hartono, arrived at the National Police
Headquarters on Jl. Trunojoyo in South Jakarta on Monday at
around 9.45 p.m. and left around 11.15 p.m.

Like Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung, then Indonesian Military
Commander, who was questioned last Friday, Hartono refused to
talk with the press.

"My lawyers will give the explanations," said the former
minister of information, before getting into his Toyota Royal
Crown and driving away.

According to his lawyer, Col. Agus B. Setiawan from the
Indonesian Military Legal Affairs Department, police asked
Hartono 20 questions.

"The substance was about the meeting at Soeharto's residence
on Jl. Cendana and about the Rp 300 million that City Military
Commander (Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso, now Jakarta Governor) borrowed
from the Army chief of staff," he said.

Agus said Hartono admitted to having attended the Cendana
meeting with several top ranking military officers one week
before the incident. But, like Feisal, Hartono also said that the
meeting did not involve any plan to take over the PDI
headquarters.

As for the money, Sutiyoso initially proposed some Rp 500
million to Hartono's deputy for meal allowance for the security
troops, deployed to secure Jakarta after the incident.

Hartono agreed to disburse Rp 300 million, which was later
returned by Sutiyoso as the latter already had received money
from Indonesian Military Headquarters, Agus said.

The July 1996 riot erupted after a group of supporters of
PDI's splinter faction, lead by Soerjadi and backed by elements
in the former Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), raided and took
over the party headquarters from the supporters of toppled PDI
leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Soerjadi replaced Megawati, now Vice President, in a
government-sponsored congress in May 1996.

The headquarters takeover triggered mass unrest throughout the
capital, resulting in the deaths of at least five people and
injury to 149 others. Meanwhile, 23 people are reportedly still
missing. (09)