Soedjono missing since Nov. 29

Soedjono missing since Nov. 29

JAKARTA (JP): In a startling revelation, it was disclosed on
Friday that key suspect in the alleged military massacre in West
Aceh, Lt. Col. Sudjono, had disappeared nearly two months before
the military admitted he was missing.

Information obtained by The Jakarta Post indicates Sudjono
went missing on Nov. 29 when he was about to be questioned as a
suspect in the murder of Islamic boarding school teacher Tengku
Bantaqiah and dozens of his students in West Aceh on July 23.

Military officials claimed on Feb. 9 that the intelligence
chief of the Lhokseumawe-based Lilawangsa military command had
not been seen since obtaining permission to go on leave from Jan.
5 to Jan. 17 to visit his hometown in West Java.

But the latest revelation indicates that before being named a
suspect Sudjono had been questioned twice between Nov. 15 and
Nov. 26 in Aceh and in Jakarta.

A reported letter in December from the Bukit Barisan Military
commander ordering Sudjono to appear before military police on
Jan. 5 went unheeded.

A military investigator who requested anonymity also confirmed
to the Post on Friday that Sudjono has been missing since
November.

"When I was dispatched to his residence in Medan in late
November, he was already missing," he said.

Separately Marwan Paris, a member of an independent commission
investigating rights abuses in Aceh, confirmed here on Friday
that Sudjono was already missing in November.

"I just quoted the statement from the military police and the
TNI deputy chief (Gen. Fachrul Razi) saying that it is true that
(Sudjono) has been missing since that date," Marwan said.

"But it is not my authority to say whether Sudjono is missing
or abducted," he added.

The commission last November issued a report highlighting five
important cases of human rights abuses in Aceh which formed the
basis for investigations leading to a joint military-civilian
court.

Sudjono is among the 20 suspects who were allegedly involved
in the Bantaqiah massacre, due to be tried first.

Local military officers maintain Bantaqiah and his students
were killed in an exchange of fire. But an inquiry reported that
there was no resistance when they were killed by the soldiers.

Hints of Sudjono's disappearance first came up earlier this
month. Later the military claimed that he had been listed as a
deserter on Jan. 18 and pledged to investigate his disappearance.

Chief of Siliwangi Military Command, which oversees West Java,
Maj. Gen. Slamet Supriadi on Friday said attempts to find Sudjono
have been fruitless.

Slamet said his men had combed all the corners of the
province. "We have visited his family and spiritual advisers. But
we found nothing," he said.

He admitted that the main difficulty was that the officer had
disappeared in late November. "He was declared a deserter on Jan.
18, but he actually left his battalion in November 1999."

He refused to speculate if Sudjono was still in the province.

Many speculate that as an intelligence officer with access to
classified information Sudjono may have been kidnapped to protect
the mystery behind the killings.

Fears of a cover-up are heightened as his disappearance
occurred just six-days after the commission made public its
report, which implicated Sudjono, on Nov. 23.

Meanwhile in Medan, the spokesman for the Bukit Barisan
Military Command Lt. Col. Nurdin Sulistyo on Friday also said
there was no sign of Sudjono in Medan where his wife lives.

Trial

Despite the snafu over Sudjono's disappearance, the government
on Friday announced that it would proceed with the Bantaqiah
trial.

Minister of Human Rights Affairs Hasballah M. Saad told
journalists in Jakarta that the trial would be held in Banda Aceh
in early March.

"It has been decided that with or without the presence of the
key suspect (Sudjono), the trial will still be held," he added
that TNI has promised to do its best in finding Sudjono before
the trial starts.

"The dossiers of the suspects are scheduled to be handed over
to the Attorney General's office on Feb. 22 and it is expected
that within three to four days the case will have been registered
at the Banda Aceh district court," he added.

Hasballah was speaking after meeting Attorney General Marzuki
Darusman, TNI deputy chief Gen. Fachrul Razi, chief of military
prosecutor Maj. Gen. Timor Manurung and officials from the
troubled province to discuss the prospect of the trial, which has
so far been bogged down by Sudjono's disappearance.

Hasballah also said that a panel of five military and civilian
judges has already been set up to preside over the trial.

He said the panel consists of two military judges -- Col.
Abdul Rohim and Col. Sarman Mulyono -- and three civilian judges
-- Roslan Dahlan, Zulkifli and Sarbuan Harahap.

The trial was initially scheduled to be held on Sabang Island,
just off the northwestern tip off Sumatra, at the end of January.

Hasballah said, however, that the trial would have to be held
in Banda Aceh as the people on Sabang rejected the plan due to
security concerns.

"The Banda Aceh Mayor has agreed with the plan, but asked for
maximum security during the trial as there is the possibility
that there could be disturbances," Hasballah said without
elaborating.(byg/emf/sur/25/39)