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)