Witnesses questioned over soldiers' attack on market

JAKARTA (JP): Interrogators from the Jakarta Military Police have started questioning 10 witnesses on an attack on Sunday by some 40 soldiers at the Senen Market in Central Jakarta, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Col. Mungkono Mursidi, the commander of the City Military Police, said the 10 witnesses, all civilians, consisted of five victims, four spectators and a market security guard.

"We are coordinating with the head of the unit to find out where the soldiers belonged to in a bid to trace the suspects' whereabouts," Mungkono told reporters after attending a handover ceremony of Jakarta's garrison command from Brig. Gen. Albert Inkiriwang to Col. Hasanuddin.

The soldiers' attack on a crowd and shops at the market, popularly known as Pasar Senen, left five people injured and a security post at the well-known market badly damaged.

Police learned on Monday the victims were three laborers in the market.

Mungkono said the soldiers were personnel from the Army's Land Transportation Battalion stationed on Jl. Bungur in Central Jakarta.

"One of the witnesses is able to identify some of the soldiers who committed the violence.

"Based on his testimony, we'll ask the commander of (the attackers') unit to hand over details on the identities of the suspects," he said.

Besides questioning a number of witnesses and the victims in the incident, Military Police investigators have also collected substantial evidence from the scene, Mungkono added.

The official confirmed reports that the attack was sparked after some soldiers were drinking at a stall in the market while playing music at high volume.

An eyewitness and local police revealed on Monday that the two soldiers were drunk after consuming tuak (an alcoholic drink made from fermented coconut milk) in a stall on the second floor of the market.

Mungkono quoted a witness as saying, "The market security guards first asked the soldiers to stop their actions (the noise) which later ended in an argument.

"The soldiers were then taken to a nearby security post by the guards."

He said news that the soldiers were held at the security post reached their colleagues, who then rushed to the market.

Anjun Siagian, head of the Senen Market security guards, said on Monday a group of some 40 soldiers arrived on the scene at 7.45 p.m and violence ensued.

The soldiers, he said, threw tear gas canisters on the second floor of the market and raided the security guard post, leaving it severely damaged.

Separately, City Military Commander Maj. Gen. Djadja Suparman, who also attended the handover ceremony, asked the media not to blow the attack out of proportion "before the case can be clearly revealed".

The two-star general pledged to bring any of his personnel he believed to have been involved in any crime, such as the market attack, to a military tribunal as required by existing laws.

It remains unclear whether or not the soldiers involved in the attack against Pasar Senen were personnel under Djadja's supervision.

The attack is the second reported incident of military violence in the capital in less than two weeks.

On Oct. 20, dozens of soldiers attacked the Jakarta Hospital on Jl. Sudirman in South Jakarta. They shot tear gas canisters and smashed windows and doors, leaving a number of people injured and causing serious damage to expensive equipment.

The security authorities later argued that the troops were personnel who just arrived from the territory of East Timor and were attempting to search for militant student protesters hiding on the premises. The attack at the hospital, which is stipulated by international law as a protected area during war, sparked anger from many institutions and parties.

The attack reportedly by personnel of the Indonesian Military (TNI) at Senen Market was described by Indonesian Legal Aid and the Human Rights Association (PBHI) as "vandalism and acts by hoodlums".

"It's ironic and disgraceful for TNI, which has just started making mass internal reforms to be professional," PBHI said in a statement on Tuesday.

The association therefore wants the new government to immediately settle the case and bring all suspected soldiers to court.

Like other cases involving military personnel, the attack at the Jakarta Hospital remains inconclusive. No soldiers have been named as suspects.

Mungkono said his office had yet to receive dossiers about the suspects in the Oct. 20 attack.

"Once we receive the dossiers, we will proceed with the case," he vowed.

When asked, Djadja simply said the case "is still being investigated by city police." (asa/bsr)