Priok probe to be continued

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office will not stop the investigation into the riotous 1984 incident in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, regardless of the peace pact made between victims and military officers.

The office's deputy general for general crimes, M.A. Rachman, who leads the investigation, said on Friday that the Islamic reconciliation pact, called islah, will not affect the investigation, which is scheduled to be completed in April.

"Not all of the victims agree with the islah, and the pact has nothing to do with this office.

"We have so far questioned 46 out of 56 victims and their relatives, so we hope we can complete the investigation next month. After that, we'll announce the suspects in the case," he said.

The pact was made on March 1, when both sides agreed to forgive each other and decided that the case was settled and should not be reopened. They also agreed to cooperate by establishing a foundation for the victims.

The officers signed the islah included Gen. (ret) Try Sutrisno, Sugeng Subroto, Pranowo, Soekarno, Rudolf A. Butar- butar, Sriyanto and H. Mattaoni.

Try, a former vice president, was the Jakarta Military Commander and Butar-butar was the North Jakarta Military Commander when the incident took place on Sept. 12, 1984.

Previous governments have claimed that the clash with the military took place following provocative lectures at the Tanjung Priok Rawa Badak Mosque, by preachers criticizing the government.

A report by the National Commission of Human Rights revealed that the incident killed 33 people - the identities of 14 victims remain unknown -- and a Chinese-Indonesian family of eight and their servant were burned to death when their house was set on fire.

It also stated that at least 55 people were injured during the incident.

Rachman said that although some of the victims demanded that the investigation be halted, his office would not fulfill those demands because it had a duty to investigate incidents concerning serious human rights abuses.

"I'm responsible to the National Commission for Human Rights, who initially started an inquiry over the case but later handed it over to us for further investigation."(bby)