London – The Solidamor chair, Coki Naipospos sustained injuries all over his body and suffered wounds on his wrist and forehead. When the attack started, he grabbed hold of a laptop to shield his face from being beaten with sticks and stones. Sapollo was kicked and beaten and was badly bruised . He was taken to hospital for an x-ray. The two other members of Solidamor who were in the building at the time suffered minor injuries.
The material damage is estimated at around 100 million rupiahs (well over $10,000), not including Rp18 million in the cash-box and the Rp1.9 million stolen from Sapollo, the East Timorese who works in the Solidamor office. The attackers also broke into a large box containing documents. Solidamor still has to work out which documents are missing.
There are reasons to believe that the attackers are from the same group which recently launched an action at the MPR (People's Congress) and was responsible for the three-day occupation of the Komnas Ham (National Commission of Human Rights) office. They include some of the Timorese whose names are listed in the KPP Ham report as perpetrators of last year's violence in East Timor.
Recently, Eurico Gutteres, the notorious Aitarak militia leader who is now based in Kupang, was interviewed by El Shinta Radio. He vehemently denied that this group in Jakarta is under his command. He said that they were formerly members of Aitarak but had defected and were now under the control of Yohannes Yacob, one of the lawyers acting for "Big Daddy" Suharto. They are currently based in a transmigration transition camp in Kali Malang, in the centre of Jakarta.
Two people have been arrested and Solidamor has called on the authorities to keep them in custody until the investigations are complete. Yesterday, members of Solidamor along with Hendardi from PBHI had a meeting with General Rusdihardjo, the National Chief of Police, to demand that there be a comprehensive follow-up of this case. Polda Metro Jaya, the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, will handle the case from now on.
People in the neighbourhood were taken by surprise by the suddennes of the act and were rather slow to react. But when the attackers started trying to burn down the building, they stepped in and were able to prevent further damage. Our friends estimate that between 40 and 50 people were involved in the attack on the Solidamor office.
The attack was reported by all the main newspapers as well as on TV. It was not the lead item however because student protests have escalated in the past two days. Demands for Suharto to be put on trial have intensified and there was a major clash today between the students and the security forces, during which teargas was used. Six army vehicles were reportedly burned by the students.
Apart from tidying up the front room, the Solidamor office has been left as it was after the attack so as to be seen by the press and the authorities. The phone is still working, the fax machine was damaged and it will probably be possible to repair one of the computers. We think that the solidarity movement worldwide should start raising money to help pay for the damage sustained by our friends in Solidamor.
The Solidamor staff will start functioning again on Monday 29 May and they wish to convey their thanks to everyone worldwide for their expressions of concern and messages of solidarity.