Students want transparency in tragic Bogor fire case

Students want transparency in tragic Bogor fire case

BOGOR (JP): Fifteen student activists have urged the Bogor
Legislative Council to see to it that the real facts behind the
fire, which claimed 10 lives and engulfed Pasar Anyar market two
years ago, were revealed.

The activists, who went to the council, were representatives
of the Association of Islamic Students (HMI), Association of
Catholic Students (PMKRI), the Indonesian Islamic Students
Movement (PMII) and the Christian Students Movement (GMKI).

"We come here in a small number now, but if our demand is
ignored we will return in greater numbers," Y.D. Sanrego, the
protesters' spokesman, said on Tuesday.

The students said they were demanding transparency in the case
because three suspects in the incident had never been brought to
trial.

The three suspects -- store manager Eko Manager and security
officers Andi Subekti and Cecep Imam Sudrajat -- were accused of
negligence, which led to the deaths of 10 employees of Ramayana
Department Store inside the market building on March 26.

The negligence included, among other things, the
malfunctioning of the fire alarm, the absence of any announcement
of employees still being inside the store, the lack of fire
extinguishers, the inaccessibility of emergency exits and a lack
of security officers.

Then Bogor Regional Police chief Col. Dadang Garnida said at
the time that the dossiers of the three suspects had been handed
over to the Bogor Prosecutor's Office, Sanrego said.

However the then prosecutor's office chief, Umar, insisted
that the case was not yet complete, saying there were more
requirements to be met before bringing the case to court, he
said.

According to Sanrego, the case had never been tried and Dadang
and Umar were replaced, on Nov. 26, last year and on Feb. 16 this
year respectively.

The fire became highly controversial as newspapers reported
that 76 employees died in the fire, but officials later claimed
there were only 10 deaths.

Besides demanding transparency about the fire, the activists
also urged the council to investigate other illegal practices,
including land disputes, deviations in the construction of
buildings and the destruction of water catchments.

The activists were received yesterday by councilor Ismail, who
promised to channel their demands to related parties. (24/jun)