Three Kopassus officers accused of murder: Hendardji

Three Kopassus officers accused of murder: Hendardji

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A high-ranking military officer said on Friday that three
officers of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) had been accused
of violating Article 338 of the Criminal Code for killing Papuan
leader Dortheys Hiyo Eluay last year.

Deputy chief of the National Military Police Brig. Gen.
Hendardji also underlined that the three were guilty of
insubordination, considering that "there had never been any order
from their superiors to kill Theys."

He further said that Aristoteles Masoka -- Theys' driver and
the only known key witness, was presumed dead.

"The ongoing investigation into the three Kopassus officers
has, at least revealed that they killed Theys without any order
from their superiors. They are guilty of violating Article 338 on
homicide.

"Nevertheless, during the investigation we also concluded that
there will be more military officers declared suspects in the
murder," Hendardji told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony
for the transfer of the chairmanship of National Resilience
Institute (Lemhannas) Alumni Association from Hendropriyono, who
is also the chief of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), to
Minister of Transportation Agum Gumelar.

Article 338 carries a maximum punishment of 15 years
imprisonment.

Hendardji added that the other suspects were among the 35
military witnesses of the Papuan-based Trikora Military Command.
According to Hendardji, the military and the police investigation
team examining the case have also questioned about 65 local
civilian witnesses.

Theys, chairman of the Papuan Presidium Council (PDP), was
found dead hours after being abducted while heading home from the
Kopassus headquarters in Jayapura, the capital city of Irian Jaya
province, after attending a National Hero's Day commemoration on
Nov. 10 last year.

Aristoteles, who was driving Theys at the time of the
abduction is still missing and presumed dead. The Indonesian
Military (TNI) investigation team had held an excavation at the
Kopassus' Tribuana IX task force compound on Jl. Hamadi,
Jayapura, as an effort to determine whether his corpse was buried
there.

The excavation was held following testimonies by several
witnesses, who refused to be identified, who asserted they saw a
man they believed to be Aristoteles arriving at the Kopassus
compound after the murder took place.

The three Kopassus officers identified only as Lt. Col. HM;
Maj. DH; and Capt. R; have been detained at the Military Police's
cell in Gambir, Central Jakarta, since April 10, days after their
arrival at Kopassus headquarters in Cijantung, East Jakarta.

Kopassus chief Maj. Gen. Amirul Isnaeni decided this week to
hire Lawyer Hotma Sitompul to represent his subordinates.

Hotma once revealed that he would ask for the suspension of
detention of the three soldiers.

Nevertheless, Hendardji stressed that the Military Police
would not fulfill Hotma's demand, saying that "we will release
them after we complete the investigation within the next two
months before submitting it to the military tribunal."

Military Police will question the three officers again on
Monday.

Meanwhile, Hendropriyono denied allegations that he was
involved in the killing, saying "how could I order these Kopassus
officers who are not under my chain of command (to kill Theys)
when even my subordinates could refuse my orders?"

Asked whether his son-in-law Maj. Andika, also a Kopassus
officer and believed to be one of the Papuan-based Military
District commanders, was also involved as speculated,
Hendropriyono said: "He is just a young boy who has nothing to do
with this case ... he has never been stationed in Papua either."