Victim of Semanggi incident laid to rest

SUMEDANG, West Java (JP): Attended by hundreds of his student colleagues, Engkus Kusnadi, a victim of the Black Friday clashes, was buried here at his parents' home town on Monday.

Engkus, 19, was in a coma, from which he never recovered, since he was shot on Nov. 13.

"It is absolutely a lie if the military says they only shot rubber bullets. The bullet smashed his head and damaged his brain," his mother Cici said.

Engkus is among 16 fatalities, including eight students, of the Nov. 13 clash. Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto defended his soldiers' shooting spree on Sunday, saying ABRI had done its work in line with the Constitution. He however conceded that some of the soldiers might have been "too defensive".

ABRI spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif said that 148 Army members would be tried for beating journalists and for the shooting spree.

"We will punish those who are guilty," Wiranto swore.

Engkus died on Sunday after 10 days in a coma at St. Carolus Hospital in Central Jakarta. The third year student of the School of Architecture at Jakarta University in East Jakarta, underwent brain surgery one day after the shooting.

Doctors had told Cici and her husband Cece, an elementary school teacher, that only a miracle could save their son, who remained on a life-support system until he died.

Wisnu Affan, an assistant for the rector of the private university, quoted doctors as saying last week that a bullet had hit Engkus' brain.

According to Cici, Friday's demonstration was the first time her son had joined a street demonstration. She said that students from other departments had teased the architecture students because they were reluctant to join demonstrations.

A tearful Cici said that she had lots of hopes for her eldest son, and did everything to finance his studies despite her husband's low income as a teacher at a state-run school in Central Jakarta. The couple live on Jl. Kampung Rawa Sawah, Central Jakarta.

"Just five days before the incident, we bought a draftsman's board. He left us before he could even use board," said the housewife. (43/prb)