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)