Retired general stands first trial for Tanjung Priok massacre
Retired general stands first trial for Tanjung Priok massacre
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A retired general appeared before a court on Tuesday charged with crimes against humanity in the bloody Tanjung Priok massacre in 1984 when soldiers gunned down at least 14 Muslim protesters.
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Rudolph Butar-Butar, who appeared at the Jakarta ad hoc rights tribunal, was a lieutenant colonel and headed the North Jakarta district military command when the shooting incident took place on Sept. 12, 1984.
According to the prosecutor's charges, at least 14 people were killed and 11 others injured in the incident, one of the most publicized individual acts of civilian suppression during the 32- year iron-fisted rule of former president Soeharto.
The prosecutors accused Butar-Butar of having failed to prevent or halt the systematic killing of civilians when in fact he had full authority to prevent the crime from happening.
"He failed to control the military personnel under his command in the shooting incident or hand them over for legal action afterwards," prosecutor Parada Nababan said in his indictment.
Butar-Butar is the 13th man to stand trial in the case. A total of 14 retired and active military personnel have been indicted in the massacre.
Under Law No. 26/2000 on human rights, they face a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of death if convicted.
During the incident the defendant was in charge of the 40- strong Platoon III of the Air Defense Artillery Battalion based in North Jakarta. The platoon was deployed on orders from the district military command to guard the military compound and important public facilities in the vicinity against possible attack from angry protesters.
The protesters were demanding the release of four people who were being held in the military command compound. They barely reached the compound when troops opened fire.
The number of people killed in the incident varies. The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) put the death toll at 33, but military authorities said only nine people were killed. Families of the victims, however, claim that almost 400 Muslim protesters were killed during the incident.
Speaking after the trial, the defendant rejected the accusations, saying he did not violate any military procedure.
"I was just doing my duty to protect military and public facilities from possible attack from the angry crowd. I object to the substance of the indictment that says that I have committed human rights violations," he told reporters after the trial.
Defense lawyer Yan Djuanda Saputera said: "What the soldiers were doing in the incident was part of a self-defense mechanism and it did not constitute a gross violation of human rights."
He said the soldiers were caught in a difficult situation.
"There were only 13 personnel against more than 2,000 angry protesters. It was simply beyond their control," he said.
The trial was adjourned until Oct. 8, when the panel of judges hears the defense statements.