Prosecutors push for July 27 case

Prosecutors push for July 27 case

JAKARTA: Prosecutors asked the Central Jakarta District Court
on Monday to continue investigating the attack on the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters on July 27, 1996, saying that
the case had a strong legal basis.

Prosecutor Manik rejected an earlier claim by lawyers of five
defendants -- three civilians and two military officers -- that
the case was groundless.

"We demanded that the court allow us to continue with the
case. The dossiers are legitimate," Manik told the court.

Last week, the defendants' lawyers urged the court to throw
the case out, saying that the prosecutors failed to produce the
"suspects in the attack of PDI headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro,
Central Jakarta".

The lawyers claimed the three civilian defendants were
actually victims, while the two military officers had merely
followed orders.

Backed by military and police officers, hundreds of people
attacked supporters of ousted PDI chairwoman Megawati
Soekarnoputri, who tried to defend the headquarters after being
forcibly replaced by her rival Suryadi.

Several top military and police officers, including former
Jakarta Military Commander Lt. Gen. (ret) Sutiyoso, who is now
Jakarta Governor, were responsible for the attack, which
reportedly claimed dozens of lives. Hundreds of supporters also
went missing during the incident and their whereabouts are still
unknown. -- Antara