Semanggi I Tragedy: Against Militarism Which Led To The Brutality Of The Apparatus

Unrest during the 1998 reform era (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The Semanggi I tragedy is one of the important milestones marking the collapse of the authoritarian regime and the rise of the democratic era. The climax occurred today, November 13, 22 last year or in 1998. In this tragedy, it was clear how brutal the apparatus was who showered the demonstrators with live bullets. This incident is a momentum that militarism must disappear from Indonesian soil.

The resignation of Soeharto has inevitably made Indonesia truly free of problems. Soeharto's role was considered too strong in the process of forming a new government. During the transition to the new government, people thought that the New Order was still trying to exert its influence.

The transition process was opened by holding a Special Session to determine the General Election and discussing the next government agenda. Students are skeptical because they still think that the government of Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie and members of the DPR / MPR still smells of the New Order.

Therefore, students rejected the Special Session and at the same time opposed ABRI's dual function. That's when students and elements of society took to the streets again.

Since 11 November 1998, students and the community started moving from Jalan Salemba. Then clashes with the authorities were inevitable. The crowd clashed with Pamswakarsa at the Tugu Proklamasi complex.

Then on 12 November 1998, hundreds of thousands of students and other demonstration participants moved towards the DPR / MPR building. But they did not manage to break through the barricade of the officers. How could it not be, units from the TNI, Brimob and Pamswakarsa united to block the masses. And clashes occurred again.

The climax occurred today, November 13, 22 last year or in 1998. Students and the community joined together towards Semanggi. The number of people and students who join is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.

But of course the apparatus was equally prepared. Armored vehicles were deployed to contain the crowds. This made society chaotic. However, the students chose to stay.

Bloody clash

When students survive, that's when the brutal action occurs. Security officers ban students who choose to stay. As a result, they were lying on the road.

The first victim known to have died was a student named Teddy Wardhani Kusuma. The second victim of the shooting was Bernadus R Norma Irawan, a student of the Atma Jaya Faculty of Economics. Bernadus was shot in the chest from the front while helping his injured colleague in the parking lot of the Atma Jaya campus.

Citing various sources, the shooting took place from 3 p.m. to around 2 a.m. The crowd that kept coming made the authorities throw tear gas. The tragedy killed 15 people, 7 students and 8 residents.

Despite the riots, it was discovered that the special congregation was still going on. It is as if these political figures do not care and do not consider the voice and sacrifice of society or students important.

Lies

The Clover tragedy was finally brought to the round table. However, he did not want to catch the shooter, let alone reveal the mastermind, Attorney General Burhanuddin even stated that in the incident there were no serious violations.

Quoting Kompas, recently the families of victims of the Semanggi I and II Tragedy challenged Attorney General Burhanuddin's statement to the Jakarta State Administrative Court. The lawsuit was filed after Burhanuddin said that the Semanggi I and II Tragedies were not serious human rights violations.

The families of the victims who filed the lawsuit were Maria Katarina Sumarsih, the mother of the late Bernardinus Realino Norma Irmawan and Ho Kim Ngo, the mother of the late Yap Yun Hap.

Burhanuddin said that the Semanggi I and II incidents were not serious human rights violations in a working meeting with Commission III on a presentation related to developments in the handling of human rights cases in January 2020. However, Burhanuddin did not mention when the DPR plenary meeting officially declared the Semanggi I and II incidents not including human rights violations. weight.

"The Semanggi I incident, Semanggi II, have resulted in the plenary session of the DPR RI which stated that the incident was not a gross human rights violation," said Burhanuddin at the Parliament Complex, Senayan.

But that question has now been refuted. Quoting Tirto, the Panel of Judges at the Jakarta State Administrative Court, led by Chief Judge Andi Muh. Ali Rahman, decided that Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin was guilty of declaring the Semanggi I and II tragedies "not a serious human rights violation" at a working meeting with Commission III of the DPR on January 16, 2020.

"Stating that the government's action by the Defendant ... was an act against the law by the counterpart and / or government officials," the sentence reads. Apart from breaking the law, in his consideration the judge also considered that Burhanuddin's statement "contained the principle of lies (bedrod)."