Wiwid questioned by military personnel

JAKARTA (JP): A student informer was questioned by military investigators on Wednesday over his claim that he was recruited by a military police officer to infiltrate the student protest movement during the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly.

During the questioning, Wiwid Pratiwo, 21, identified a photograph of the officer he said had recruited him, said Munir, a member of the independent Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

The former student of Trisakti University's air transportation management school, told the National Commission on Human Rights on Saturday that he was recruited by "force" by a military police soldier from the presidential guard unit, identified as "BL."

Wiwid also claimed that he was warned several hours in advance, through a pager provided by "BL", a second class private, that security personnel would open fire on the afternoon of Nov. 13 at the Semanggi cloverleaf. The clashes of Nov. 12 and Nov. 13 claimed 16 lives.

"Eight pictures which the investigators claimed were all photos of "BL" were shown to Wiwid, and he identified the real "BL"", Munir said at the National Military Police headquarters in Central Jakarta. Investigators confirmed that the picture identified by Wiwid was the true "BL", Munir added.

He said that the questioning was based on a summons from the military police. Citing media reports that "BL" was also scheduled to be questioned on Wednesday, he said that the officer did not show up at the National Military Police headquarters.

Wiwid claims that "BL" first approached him in late August, claiming to be a friend, and had let "BL" stay at his parents' house in Central Jakarta. Wiwid presented military fatigues left at his home that he claimed were owned by "BL" to the investigators.

Wiwid had said that he was assigned to recruit civilian guards from outside Jakarta to back up the military in securing the session, and to monitor universities to gather information on student movements.

Wiwid said that he brought about 160 people into the capital in four Army trucks, and, with a number of people from North Jakarta, they were taken to Cijantung, East Jakarta.

"They were not taken to the Army's Special Forces headquarters (in Cijantung), and the place they were taken to is still being investigated," Munir said.

Wiwid was caught on Nov. 15 by students suspicious of his activities and turned in to Kontras the next day.

Separately, the youth wing of the National Mandate Party (BM- PAN) denied reports that it was involved in the deployment of civilian guards. However, a PAN official, Andi W. Syahputra, admitted "individuals" of the organization had become members of the civilian guards -- four officials and the BM-PAN committee chairman, Abdul Rasyid, who had recruited 30 BM-PAN members from 10 regional chapters to join the civilian guards.

Some 125,000 civilian volunteers were deployed by the security authorities to back up 25,000 soldiers and police mobilized in Jakarta to assure order during the four-day Special Session.

The volunteers came under increasing criticism as many were armed and were engaged in clashes with students and local residents. (byg/imn)