The identity of the gunman at Mile 62 is still a mystery. Indonesian Police do not have any evidence with which to arrest the FBI's suspect.
The name of Antonius Wamang, which has long been out of the limelight, is again drawing public attention. This man was named a suspect in the shooting at Mile 62 Tembagapura, Papua, two and a half years ago. The event caused a stir in the United States because two of its citizens-Ted Burcon and Rickey Lean Spier-were killed. One Indonesian by the name of FX Bambang Riwanto was also injured in the incident.
The shooting incident has become a lively issue again due to the reopening of the US military training program for Indonesia (IMET or International Military Education and Training Program). One reason for the reopening was that they considered Indonesia did a good job of handling this tragedy at the Grasberg mountain range.
It is as if the handling of the incident in Timika reflected well on the Indonesian government. Naming Wamang a suspect seemed to further strengthen their image. The naming of a civilian suspect played down accusations that members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) were involved in the "bloody Grasberg" incident. Colonel Ahmad Yani Basuki, Head of the Public Information Office at TNI Headquarters, said that the case involving the shooting of two Americans in Timika is closed. "Investigative findings of the Indonesian Army and Police, as well as the [American] FBI, concluded that no TNI members were involved in the case," he said last Wednesday.
So the name of Antonius Wamang became connected with the incident at Mile 62 Tembagapura on August 31, 2002. He became a suspect after FBI investigators conducted a 21-month investigation. The FBI presented their findings to TNI Commander in Chief, General Endriartono Sutarto, at the end of June 2004.
Quoting the FBI investigators, General "Tarto" said that Wamang was a member of the Free Papua Army (TPM), which is the military wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM).
The suspicion that the TNI was involved came from the Papua Police Department investigation team, which was led by (then) Deputy Police chief Brig. Gen. Raziman Tarigan. This suspicion was based upon the testimony of Decky Murib-a civilian under the guidance of Indonesia's Army Special Forces-who claimed to be near the scene of the crime. Police investigation of the crime scene strengthened Murib's testimony. However, he recently withdrew his testimony in a slander hearing of the Commander of the XVII/Trikora Military Region vs. Elsham Papua.
Two and a half years have passed since the shooting, but Wamang has still not been brought up on charges, and it is difficult to determine if he is indeed the perpetrator. To this day, inconsistencies between the findings of the Indonesian Police and the FBI have not been reconciled. The police say that they still cannot bring in Wamang because there are no witnesses or sufficient evidence to support the charges. "The evidence is weak, and there are no eyewitnesses," said Insp. Gen. Aryanto Budiharjo, the Head of Public Relations for National Police HQ, last week.
A high-ranking police officer at National Police HQ firmly stated that the police cannot charge Wamang. It was concluded from the crime scene that the perpetrator was not from the OPM. He said that the FBI visited National Police HQ after conducting their investigation. At that time, the FBI stated that Wamang was the gunman. "However, the identity of Wamang was not described.
Details such as where he hails from and his current whereabouts were not mentioned," said the source, who wished to remain anonymous. He became skeptical because the name Wamang is not used among the Timika or Wamena tribes.
Unfortunately, the police officers who investigated the incident at Mile 62 are now reluctant to say anything. Insp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika, former Papua Police Department chief, for instance, feels that the findings of the FBI investigation, which identified Wamang, do not need to be compared with his investigative findings. "My investigation at that time was limited to the crime scene," said Pastika, who is currently Bali Police Chief.
There is another person who was involved in the investigation, namely former Mimika Police Department chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Sumardjiyo, who is currently the Chief of Police in Bondowoso, East Java. He said that he was transferred to his present position before the investigation was complete. "At that time, it was not yet known who the perpetrator of the shooting was," he said last week. This statement is a bit different from his explanation to Tempo in 2003. At that time, Sumardjiyo firmly stated that the gunman was not from the OPM.
"From the beginning of our investigation, there has been no indication in the direction of OPM [involvement]," he said (Tempo Indonesian edition 46, November 19, 2003).
Today, proving or disproving the role of Wamang in the incident at Mile 62 may no longer be important – especially for the United States. Last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that IMET was definitely being reopened for Indonesia. The name of Wamang may only be a distant echo among the valleys of Grasberg.
[Tulus Wijanarko, Martha Warta, Mahbub Djunaidiy (Bondowoso), Rofiqi Hasan (Bali).]