Prosecutors ask for five-year jail term for Pranowo
Prosecutors ask for five-year jail term for Pranowo
Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta
Prosecutors demanded on Friday a five-year prison term for former
Jakarta Military Police chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Pranowo for
allegedly failing to stop his men from torturing prisoners
captured following the Tanjung Priok incident in 1984.
Prosecutor Roesmanadi said Pranowo let his subordinates
torture about 169 suspects detained at two military police
stations in Cimanggis and Guntur.
However, the prosecutors dropped their primary charges as they
said they found no evidence Pranowo had perpetrated gross human
rights violations against the civilians.
"Many of the witnesses withdrew their testimonies," Roesmanadi
told the ad hoc human rights tribunal.
Other witnesses had told the court they were kicked until they
fell on the floor and forced to do push-ups during their
detention.
In her testimony, a woman said she heard her brother's cries
of pain but she did not know what had happened to him.
"I saw my brother's face was full of bruises but there was no
medical report about it," Roesmanadi quoted the woman as saying.
The hearing was originally scheduled for June 30. However, the
trial was adjourned as the prosecution was not ready.
Pranowo is one of 13 serving or retired military officers
standing trial for the shooting incident 20 years ago. The
incident took place when soldiers dispersed thousands of
protesters in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. The protesters were
demanding the release of four people who were being detained by
the military after an earlier demonstration.
An investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights
later found at least 24 people were killed and 54 injured in the
incident.
Other defendants include Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan, now
commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) and former
North Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen. (ret) Rudolf Butar-
butar, who was earlier convicted and sentenced to 10 years in
prison for letting his soldiers commit the massacre. Rudolf
successfully appealed the verdict and remains free.
The court has twice canceled a session to hear the
prosecutors' sentence demands for Sriyanto. The next hearing is
scheduled for July 8.
Pranowo's trial was adjourned until July 13, when he will be
given a chance to read his defense plea.
Asked to comment about the case, Pranowo said he was
optimistic he would be acquitted.
The trials are Indonesia's second attempt to bring soldiers to
court for rights abuses after the East Timor case. In the Timor
case, a civilian militia leader received a 10-year prison term
but military officers received lesser terms. Many of the military
officers were later exonerated by a higher court.