Supporters of Soerjadi obeyed order, police say

JAKARTA (JP): Supporters of Soerjadi, the officially recognized chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), obeyed orders to disperse during clashes with their opponents in Central Jakarta last July, a police chief said yesterday.

Vice Chief of the Jakarta Mobile Police Brigade Major Sunaryo told the Central Jakarta District Court that their behavior contrasted with that of supporters of the ousted PDI chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, who had defied the order.

Sunaryo was testifying in a trial of 12 people charged in connection with the riot outside the PDI headquarters on July 27. The case was one of four legal suits conducted yesterday, involving 60 defendants, in relation to the unrest. All the defendants were supporters of Megawati and had occupied the PDI headquarters prior to the riots.

Sunaryo testified that both camps involved in the clashes had initially ignored orders to leave the scene and pelted each other with stones.

Soerjadi's supporters eventually agreed to follow the orders to withdraw from the fighting and left the scene, he said.

"None of Soerjadi's people were in the headquarters. That's why we did not arrest them," Sunaryo said.

Lawyers for the defense have questioned the police decision to arrest only Megawati's supporters. They also claimed that Soerjadi's supporters started the clashes.

The 60 defendants who appeared yesterday have been charged with assault and ignoring orders to disperse. The first charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment and the second 18 months. Sixty-four other defendants are still to be tried on similar charges.

Government prosecutors said that four people, including two police officers, were injured and property in the area was severely damaged during the assault.

Sunaryo, who led about 300 anti-riot officers into the location to disperse the clashes, acknowledged that the defendants did not target the police during the unrest.

He said a situation of "frenzy" existed during the riot, with both sides throwing stones and bricks at each other.

"They certainly weren't targeting the police officers," he said during cross examination by the defense lawyers.

Sunaryo rejected the defendant's claims that they were unable to obey the order to disperse because they were trapped inside the PDI office building.

He said they could have left through the western gate.

When asked by defense lawyer Henry Yosodiningrat whether he recognized the defendants, he said he could but he was unable to identify them by name.

"Yes, I saw them all in the PDI headquarters," he said. (16)