Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Military Police Commander Maj. Gen Sulaiman A.B. announced on Tuesday that Governor Sutiyoso was a suspect of the July 27, 1996 incident when hundreds of progovernment civilians and military attacked the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
"Sutiyoso's name is not listed in the dossiers from the National Police, but it is in the dossier submitted by the military police," Sulaiman said, stressing that the dossier would soon be submitted to the prosecutor's office.
Sutiyoso was excluded from the list of 14 new suspects of the attack against supporters of then ousted PDI chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri by supporters of the government-backed party leader, Soerjadi.
The Soerjadi supporters received support from military personnel. Sutiyoso has been accused of being responsible for the incident because he was the Jakarta Military commander at the time.
The new list was submitted by the joint police-military investigative team to the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office in mid-July after similar dossiers had been rejected by the office numerous times.
Jakarta Prosecutor's Office chief Mulyohardjo confirmed on Monday the exclusion of Sutiyoso's name from the list of suspects, saying "Sutiyoso is not mentioned in the dossiers, not even as a witness." "So Sutiyoso's file is not missing," Sulaiman said as quoted by Antara. He said a number of military people would be named suspects, including Gen. (ret) Faisal Tanjung, who was the Armed Forces commander at the time.
Last Saturday, thousands of people gathered to commemorate the July 27, 1996 incident. They urged a comprehensive legal process against those involved in the incident, including the masterminds. They also rejected Megawati's decision to support Sutiyoso in the gubernatorial race.
Meanwhile, in the City Council building, Sutiyoso is still listed as a candidate for city governor for the 2002-2006 period. Sutiyoso has passed the initial selection held by the main factions in the City Council, except the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction.
Sutiyoso is the PDI Perjuangan faction candidate and is supported by two other major factions – the Golkar faction and the United development Party (PPP) faction.
Other candidates still in the running include City Secretary Fauzi Bowo, Council chairman Eddy Waluyo, Deputy Governor for Social Welfare Djaelani, West Nusa Tenggara Governor Harun Al Rasyid, PDI Perjuangan Jakarta faction chairman Tarmidi Suhardjo and Golkar Jakarta chapter chairman Tadjus Sobirin.
The 11 factions are expected to name candidate pairs for governor and vice governor on Friday. Each faction may name two pairs. However, there is still lobbying going on between the factions.
The PPP faction, for example, openly announced it would wait for the position of the Vice President, who is also its chairman, and was ready to cooperate with any gubernatorial candidate from other factions.