PRD files Rp 5.5b lawsuit against 'Soeharto regime'

JAKARTA (JP): The Democratic People's Party (PRD) filed a Rp 5.5 billion (US$617,000) lawsuit with the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday against former president Soeharto in connection with the July 27, 1996 violence on Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta.

The lawsuit also named as defendants: former Armed Forces (ABRI) chief Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung, former Jakarta military commander Lt. Gen. (ret) Sutiyoso, former ABRI chief of sociopolitical affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, former police chief Gen. (ret) Dibyo Widodo, former Army chief of staff Gen. (ret) R. Hartono, former East Java military commander Maj. Gen. (ret) Imam Utomo, former minister of home affairs Lt. Gen. (ret) Moch. Yogie S. Memet, former ABRI Intelligence Service (BIA) chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsir Siregar, former BIA director Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim, former attorney general Singgih, former justice minister Oetoyo Oesman and former information minister Harmoko.

"These men called me and other PRD members communists, and declared us the masterminds of the July 27, 1996, violence," PRD chairman Budiman Soedjatmiko told reporters at the district court after filing the lawsuit.

"They chased after us, tortured us, raided our PRD branches and seized important party documents. The Soeharto regime slapped me with 13 years imprisonment in 1997, based upon unsubstantiated evidence and ludicrous accusations."

Budiman, whose party contested the June 7, 1999 elections, was sentenced to 13 years in jail in 1997 by the Soeharto regime for his alleged involvement in the July 1996 riot in Jakarta, which followed a violent attack on the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters.

Budiman was released last year as part of an amnesty granted by former president B.J. Habibie under presidential decree number 68 issued on July 2, 1999.

He said he had 38 lawyers to fight the party's case, including noted attorneys Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, Munir and Apong Herlina.

National Military Police chief Maj. Gen. Djasrie Marin said that all of the Army officers, police officers and civilians allegedly involved in the July 1996 violence would be called in for questioning as part of another investigation into the unrest.

"The investigators will comprise military prosecutors, the military police and officers from the National Police," Djasrie had said.

Supporters of the PDI chairman, Soerjadi, forcibly took over the party headquarters from loyalists of the ousted PDI leader Megawati Soekarnoputri on July 27, 1996.

The takeover led to violence throughout the Central Jakarta area, leaving five people dead and 23 others still missing. (ylt)