Police prohibit planned celebration of July 27 riot

JAKARTA (JP): The National Police have prohibited Megawati Soekarnoputri loyalists from commemorating the first anniversary of the July 27 political riot in which five people were killed.

Spokesman for the National Police Col. Bambang Haryoko, said yesterday that the planned event would likely pose security problems because a large number of people would be involved.

"The commemoration is likely to create a security problem. Experience shows that mass gatherings could easily turn violent and difficult to handle," Bambang told reporters yesterday.

The July 1996 riot was sparked by the brutal takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters in Central Jakarta. People hired by Soerjadi, the politician who toppled Megawati from the party helm in a government-backed congress in June 1996, were allegedly involved.

The National Commission on Human Rights said five people were killed and 23 people went missing in the riot, the biggest seen in Jakarta for 20 years.

Megawati, who was democratically elected as party chief in 1993, sticks to her claim that she remains the PDI boss. But the government recognizes Soerjadi.

Megawati and her supporters have sued the government and Soerjadi's faction, challenging the legitimacy of his leadership. The lawsuits are now being tried at the court of appeal.

The planned commemoration of last year's tragedy would include a group prayer at Megawati's residence in South Jakarta Saturday night and a wreath laying ritual at the party's headquarters on Sunday morning.

Separately, Jakarta Regional Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso made it clear yesterday the organizers could not hold the commemoration without a police permit.

The organizers should also obtain a permit from the state secretariat, which oversees the disputed PDI headquarters, he said. The building is currently being restored.

Human rights campaigner Muladi yesterday told organizers of the commemoration to obtain the police permit, saying that the event would attract a large number of people.

He warned that if Megawati loyalists insisted on holding the ceremonies, an irresponsible party could exploit it to create unrest with the aim of disrupting next year's presidential election.

Muladi, a National Commission of Human Rights member and rector of the Semarang-based Diponegoro University, said Megawati supporters should reconsider their plan.

"What's the use of commemorating the July 27 tragedy?" he said.

Muladi said commemorating the tragedy would only stir up people's emotion and ruin PDI's relationship with the government and other political groups.

He suggested that it would be better for Megawati to think of how to make PDI a better party instead.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security, Soesilo Soedarman, said yesterday that people should not over-react to the planned commemoration.

"Haven't the organizers guaranteed that there will be no violence and they will not create problems?" he told reporters.

He supported Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M.'s promise that the government would grant the permit as long as there would be no mass mobilization during the event. (cst/jun/har/imn)