Syarwan set to clarify July 27 tragedy

Syarwan set to clarify July 27 tragedy

JAKARTA (JP): Lt. Gen. (ret.) Syarwan Hamid, former chief of
Indonesian Military's (TNI) now defunct socio-political affairs
office, said he was ready to give his account of events
surrounding the July 27 tragedy.

"I am ready to give a clarification to the National Police.
The sooner the clarification is conducted the better the
situation will be," he said when he asked to comment on renewed
Police investigation into the incident here on Saturday.

Syarwan said he wanted the investigation to be carried out
fairly and without pressure.

"I want an objective legal process in the Police
investigation," he said.

Gen. (retired) Feisal Tanjung, who was military commander at
the time has also denied he was behind the tragedy and ready to
clarify the matter with police.

The July 27, 1996 incident, has become an infamous mark in
Indonesia political history; the date followers of Soerjadi
forcefully took over the Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters
which was controlled by loyalists of Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Megawati had just been ousted by Soerjadi from the party chair
in a government-backed congress.

With the election of Megawati as Vice President there has been
greater impetus to investigate the incident.

The National Police recently pledged to complete its
investigation into the case in three months.

Susilo Muslimin, a retired Police major, who witnessed the
attack, said in Surabaya, East Java on Saturday that Buttu
Hutapea, PDI's former secretary general and Lukman Mokoginta,
former PDI deputy chairman, should be held as key witnesses in
the incident.

"I am ready to give testimony that the two were involved in
the attack. I saw them present in the group of red-clothed men
attacking those who were inside the Headquarters," he said.

Susilo, was in charge of security when the PDI headquarters in
Central Jakarta was attacked.(rms)