Semanggi victims' families protest

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of family members of the victims of the 1998 Semanggi shootings demonstrated on Thursday in front of the Ministry of Defense and Security on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in Central Jakarta, demanding that Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto take responsibility.

The protesters included mothers of students killed in the fatal shooting incident.

Mrs. Sumarsih, mother of Atmajaya student Wawan, and Mrs. Partini, mother of YAI student Sigit, both students who were shot dead in the incident, said Wiranto has failed to satisfactorily investigate the incident.

"Don't you have any conscience, Sir? What if this happened to your children?" the protesters shouted under the watchful eye of dozens of officers.

The protesters demanded that the TNI commander apologize officially to the victims and members of their families, saying it would be help build a nonviolent Indonesia.

They also demanded that the government compensate the victims for all medical expenses.

The other demands included making public the investigation of the violence, the types of weapons used and the military units of the officers found guilty in the incident.

The protesters further asked that the military to disclose the names of those who gave orders to shoot and that the responsible superior officers also be made known.

A similar protest was also held at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout.

In the protest, hundreds of students from dozens of universities in the capital distributed leaflets asking for peace.

Anthoni, a student of ABA-ABI Cikini, said the protest was aimed at urging all parties to realize the importance of peace to enable people to conduct their life rhythms peacefully. (hhr)