Priok witnesses ask for protection

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.