Priok witnesses ask for protection
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Witnesses in the Tanjung Priok case are seeking police protection out of fears that they may become the subjects of intimidation and threats that could prevent them from testifying to the human rights tribunal.
Yusron, who says he represents 30 witnesses currently seeking protection, explained on Monday the move was triggered by the presence of dozens of Army Special Force (Kopassus) soldiers who had packed the courtroom in a show of force as their commander, Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan, went on trial last week. Sriyanto is charged with failing to prevent his men from committing gross human rights violations.
"Tomorrow (Tuesday), we will go to National Police Headquarters to ask for protection. I don't know what will happen, but I'm not comfortable with the situation anymore," Yusron told The Jakarta Post.
He was referring to the trial of 11 military officers, including the then commander of the 2nd Platoon of the Air Defense Artillery Battalion based in North Jakarta, Col. Sutrisno Mascung, who was allegedly involved in the 1984 incident, which left at least 14 dead and 11 injured.
Yusron is expected to testify against Sriyanto.
He, along with 169 Muslim protesters, were detained at Military Police Headquarters on Jl. Sultan Agung, Central Jakarta, and then been moved to another military detention center in Cimanggis, Bogor regency, without warrants.
After more than three months, he was moved to Salemba penitentiary in Central Jakarta and stood trial for resisting the lawful authorities. The court sentenced him to one-year in jail.
The Tanjung Priok killings were reportedly triggered by a soldier who entered the As Sa'adah Mosque near Tanjung Priok Port on Sept. 7, 1984, without taking off his boots, an act regarded as tantamount to the desecration of a Muslim holy place.
Complaints have been widespread over the presence of the Kopassus soldiers in the courtroom during Sriyanto's trial last week. They occupied almost the entire courtroom.
Andi Samsan Nganro, one the ad hoc judges and spokesman for the rights tribunal, said the soldiers could well have been ordered to attend the trial in an effort to put pressure on the court.
"But we can't prohibit people from attending the trial, which is open to public," he said.
Yusron's lawyer, Ori Rahman from the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the judges had the power to impose conditions for attendance in order to maintain order and avoid psychological pressure be exerted on witnesses.
"During the first session of Sriyanto's trial, many of the soldiers were still wearing their knives in the courtroom.
"Some of these troops then followed my clients after the trial and warned them not to testify. This is something we can no longer tolerate," Ori told the Post.
The court on Monday heard the testimony of two witnesses against Sutrisno Mascung and 10 other defendants. They said the soldiers had opened fire without first firing warning shots.
"I can only remember that the troops aimed directly at us. They didn't shoot at the ground or into the air, they shot straight at us," Hussein Sappe, 77, told the court, which was presided over by Samsan Nganro.
The other witness, Ahmad Sahi, the former supervisor of the As Sa'adah Mosque, claimed that a petty officer named Hermanu had entered the prayer house without taking off his boots.