Try, Moerdani grilled over Tanjung Priok incident

JAKARTA (JP): Former vice president Gen. (ret) Try Sutrisno and former armed forces commander Gen. (ret) L.B. Moerdani were questioned on Wednesday over their roles in a 1984 shooting in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, that left at least 40 people dead.

Try, who was the Jakarta Military commander when the incident took place, was quizzed for around three hours starting from 10:30 a.m. Moerdani, popularly called Benny, was called for after Try and finished his one-hour session at 3:30 p.m.

The questioning was conducted by the Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights violations (KPP HAM) in Tanjung Priok, a special team established in March by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to investigate the Sept. 12, 1984, bloodshed.

Try, who served as vice president between 1988 and 1993, is the highest former state official ever to face the rights body's questions.

In the media conference following the inquiry, Try said he had told all he knew about the incident to the commission.

"I explained to them about the background to the Priok incident, which included the political situation at that time," he told journalists.

The clash between civilians and military personnel erupted following emotion-charged lectures at Tanjung Priok's Rawa Badak Mosque by preachers who had reportedly criticized the government. The military claimed 40 people were killed; eyewitnesses said they saw a truck loaded with charred bodies.

Try, who was accompanied by his team of lawyers led by Maj. Gen. Timur Manurung, maintained the military had responded properly to what he called "the brutal crowd".

Try told the inquiry commission that he never gave the order to shoot on the crowds.

"The shootings began after someone fired a warning shot. The shot then triggered other warning shots to calm the crowd," Try was quoted as saying by one of the inquirers Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsudin.

Another member of the inquiry team, Albert Hasibuan, said during the questioning Try insisted that nobody should be blamed as the shooting had followed standard military procedures.

Try said there were 23 fatalities during the incident and 60 injuries. He said only 14 of the dead had been identified, including nine Tanjung Priok residents.

The military buried the bodies in several graveyards in North Jakarta, such as Sukapura, and Condet and Pondok Rangon Kranggan in East Jakarta. One of the fatalities was buried by his family.

Try added that a gun holster was found on one of the bodies.

Syamsudin also said Try admitted he had anticipated the community's feelings following the incident by explaining to Tanjung Priok residents about the killings and holding Koran recitals with them.

According to Albert, Try said he had received information about the bloodshed from his aides and that no complaints were ever raised by residents about their missing families.

Moerdani, who recently suffered from a stroke, left the commission building looking unsteady on his feet, without giving any statement to the media.

Albert said Moerdani mostly gave written answers to the commission's questions as he had difficulty in communicating orally.

He said the former top military officer also denied allegations he gave a direct order for the troops to fire during the incident.

In his testimony, Moerdani said he was informed of the incident by Try half-an-hour after it had taken place.

During the questioning, dozens of students and the families of victims of the incident staged a noisy demonstration in the rights commission's parking lot. The students, grouped under the Committee of Anti-Violence Students (KOMPAK), demanded the commission stay independent and speed up inquiries. (rid/01)