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.