Try, Moerdani grilled over Tanjung Priok incident

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)