Riots fact-finding team to query BIA chief
Riots fact-finding team to query BIA chief
JAKARTA (JP): The government fact-finding team on the May
riots plans to question Armed Forces Intelligence Agency (BIA)
chief Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim early this week.
"We need to meet him to learn about the intelligence
coordination during the riots," team member Bambang W. Soeharto
told The Jakarta Post Saturday.
Bambang, who leads the team's subcommittee in charge of
compiling testimony on the unrest which blanketed Jakarta and
other cities, declined to identify where the questioning would
take place.
Zacky will be the fourth government officials to testify
before the investigation team. Last week, the team questioned
former Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin,
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso and former city police chief Maj. Gen.
Hamami Nata about reportedly nonexistent security when the riots
took place.
When asked whether the team would also question other
government officials, Bambang, who is a member of the National
Commission on Human Rights, said: "We will meet officials who
held strategic positions during the riots."
He did not elaborate, but in an interview with SCTV television
station later Saturday he said there were plans to question all
police precinct chiefs, district military commanders and local
administration officials.
The riots erupted in the capital and cities including
Surakarta, Central Java, in the wake of the deaths of four
Trisakti University students who were shot by security forces
during a demonstration against then president Soeharto on May 12.
Soeharto resigned nine days later.
At least 1,200 died in the riots and thousands of buildings
were looted or burned.
It was also later reported that women, mostly of Chinese
descent, were victims of rapes and sexual abuse .
The government established the fact-finding team on July 23.
The 19-member team comprises representatives from the Armed
Forces, government agencies, the rights commission and non-
governmental organizations (NGOs). It is charged with
investigating and trying to determine the perpetrators of the
riots, which some say was organized.
The joint team is expected to complete its task in three
months. (byg)