Priok witness says soldiers did not fire warning shots

Priok witness says soldiers did not fire warning shots

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Military soldiers deployed to quell the demonstration in Tanjung
Priok in 1984 opened fire at the crowd without prior warning
shots, a witness told the human rights court on Monday.

Yusron bin Zainuri, one of two witnesses testifying against
the main suspect Col. Sutrisno Mascung and 10 of his men, said
that although he could not identify the soldiers in the incident
that took place at night, he was sure of what he saw as he was in
the front part of the crowd.

"There were no warning shots either to the ground or in the
air. One of the soldiers barked a command ordering the crowd to
back off, and then the shooting began," Yusron told the judges.

Sutrisno and his men are being charged with crimes against
humanity for opening fire at the crowd of demonstrators in the
1984 incident, leaving 33 of them dead and another 55 injured
according to an investigation by the National Commission on Human
Rights (Komnas HAM). The crime carries a minimum sentence of 10
years in prison and a maximum penalty of death as stipulated in
Law No. 26/2002 on the human rights tribunal.

Yusron said he was shot in the chest, but managed to get back
on his feet to help fellow demonstrators. He said he saw three
truck-loads of soldiers who kept shooting at the crowd while
passing the area.

He said he pretended to be dead when soldiers scoured the
place and his left arm was dislocated after the troops threw him
aboard a military truck along with other victims. The wounded
were taken to Gatot Subroto Army Hospital (RSPAD) in Central
Jakarta.

During his stay at the hospital, Yusron said he was treated
well by the military police guarding him, except for being
slapped across the face and being branded "a rapist communist"
when he tried to converse with the hospital's nurses.

The other witness, Irta Sumitra, said the shooting began all
of a sudden.

Then a junior high school student, he said he tried to escape
from the shooting spree but was shot in his right thigh. He was
helped by nearby residents who admitted him to Cipto Mangunkusumo
General Hospital (RSCM) in Salemba, Central Jakarta. He was then
transferred by force by the soldiers to RSPAD.

"There, I saw dozens of the other victims, as well as Try
Sutrisno, who even came up to me and told me to pray and study
hard, and never to get involved in such a thing again," Irta
said, adding that he was then kept for three months at the
military detention center at Cimanggis, in Bogor, West Java to
wait for his trial.

The former vice president Try Sutrisno was then the Jakarta
Military commander, but escaped prosecution.

During his trial, Irta said that he was forced to confess to
carrying a sharp object during the demonstration. He was
sentenced to a year and six months in prison, minus his detention
period.

Monday's trial was also marked by a request from the panel of
judges to the prosecutor to summon military officers responsible
for the military equipment to be used as evidence.

"Since the court is now hearing testimonies from witnesses, we
might as well question those officers as witnesses," said Judge
Binsar Gultom.

The Attorney General's Office had sent two letters dated Sept.
12 and Sept. 13, 2001 to the Indonesian Military Headquarters
concerning the confiscation of 13 SKS rifles, several bullet
casings and several military trucks for evidence.

In a response dated Sept. 18, 2001, however, then commander of
the air defense artillery battalion, Lt. Col. Bambang Suartono,
said the equipment had long been withdrawn and replaced.

The trial was adjourned until Dec. 16 to continue hearing the
testimonies of three other witnesses.