Jakarta – Former home affairs minister Syarwan Hamid was yesterday named a suspect in the 1996 attack on the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). Syarwan, a retired lieutenant general, was head of the militarys social and political affairs department at the time of the brutal attack.
He yesterday failed to comply with a summons to appear at Military Police headquarters, where a joint civilian-military team is investigating the incident. But a source in the team said Syarwan has been declared a suspect.
Another former military official who has also been named a suspect in the case is Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso. Sutiyoso, a retired major general, was the city's military commander when hired thugs and security forces launched the assualt against the PDI headquarters on July 27, 1996.
At least five people were killed during the attack, which sparked mass riots in Central Jakarta. The PDI building had been occupied by supporters of then opposition figurehead Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Sutiyoso earlier this year admitted that former president Soeharto had implicity ordered the attack in order to silence the Megawati loyalists who were criticizing the government and military. Satunet.com online news portal reported that Sutiyoso and Syarwan will be interrogated by investigators next week.
Following the 1998 resignation of Soeharto, police investigated the July 27 incident. Predictably, they only came up with a group of civilian suspects, even though it was widely believed the military had orchestrated the attack.
The civilian suspects include: Soerjadi, former PDI secretary general Buttu Hutapea, and former PDI security head Alex W. Siregar. They had been detained by police until a few months ago and are now free.
A group of youths calling themselves the Student Alumni Forum for Law Enforcement (FMAPH) yesterday said Syarwan is a victim of a revenge attack being conducted by the new government. The youths are from Riau, Syarwans home province. They said there will be violence if legal action is taken against their regions most famous son.
Without intending to interfere in the joint investigation team, we, the people of Riau, demand the plan to detain Syarwan be delayed. If our demand is ignored, dont blame us if there is public unrest in Riau, FMAPH Chairman Ramlan Comel was quoted as saying by Detikcom in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru.
As head of social and political affairs in the armed forces, Syarwan is believed by many to have masterminded the attack against the PDI office. But Ramelan insisted that Syarwan had no authority to order the attack.