Jakarta – Three out of 11 Indonesian soldiers being court martialled for a series of kidnappings Thursday admitted to abducting some political activists, a witness said.
Three junior officers from the elite army Kopassus special force described how they were involved in kidnapping eight pro-democracy activists.
"I came along to pick up three activists, each Haryanto Taslam, Mugiyanto, and Feisol Reza," First Sergeant Sukardi said, questioned by the prosecution at the military court martial in East Jakarta.
He was referring to Taslam, a loyalist of popular opposition Indonesian Democracy Party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri and activists of the outlawed People's Democratic Party, Mugiyanto and Feisol Reza.
Two other defendants, Master Sergeant Sunaryo, Master Captain Sigit Sugianto, made similar confessions during the four-hour trial. Sunaryo and Sugianto said they took part in the abduction of Aan Risdianto and Nezar Patria from their apartment in East Jakarta on March 13, 1998.
Sunaryo also admitted taking part in the kidnapping of Andi Arief in Jakarta on March 27. Sugianto told the court he had also taken part in the abduction of Pius Lustrilanang on March 4 and Raharjo Waluyojati on March 12.
Presiding judge Colonel Susanto decided to question the three after none of the five witnesses summoned for the trial appeared in court – four of the witnesses had been kidnap victims.
The activists were seized in the last months of the regime of former president Suharto by unidentified men. Some were held in solitary confinement for weeks and some also spoke after their release of being tortured.
Nine of those who were kidnapped have resurfaced, one was found dead and 13 are listed as missing. Most were warned never to talk of their ordeal. At the time the Kopassus unit was under the command of one of Suharto's son-in-laws, the now-retired lieutenant general Prabowo Subianto.
Press reports in August said Prabowo had admitted during a two-week investigation by the military's Officers Honorary Council that he ordered the kidnappings. The council discharged Prabowo and two other officers for their role in the abduction and torture of activists.