Investigation Of 11 Soldiers Involved in Prison Attack Begins

Jakarta, April 10 (Antara) - Investigators have begun investigating 11 soldiers of the Army`s Special Forces (Kopassus) who are involved in a recent attack on Cebongan prison detainees, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Pramono Edhie said. "They are now in the process of investigation. Yesterday, they were still in the examination process," the Army chief said on Tuesday. Pramono said that after the investigation process, their cases would be transferred to the court. "All can follow the court proceedings," he added. Asked on whether the 11 soldiers have been named suspects, he said they were most likely to become suspects. "Let`s follow its developments. The investigation has not yet been completed," the Army chief said. On March 23 a group of armed and masked men raided Cebongan penitentiary in Sleman, Yogyakarta, and shot to death four detainees police had put there after they were arrested for alleged involvement in a fight that led to the death of a member of an army`s special forces Kopassus at Hugo`s Cafe in Sleman. Chairman of the Investigation Team of the Army`s Headquarters Brg. Gen Unggul K Yudhoyono on Thursday (April 4, 2013), confirmed that 11 members of Kopassus were behind the killing of four detainees at a penitentiary in Cebongan, Sleman, Yogyakarta, recently. "Eleven members of Kopassus have been involved in the raid at the Cebongan penitentiary. One of them acted as the executor and eight others as supporters while two others had sought to prevent their action," Unggul K Yudhoyono said at a press conference. He said the eight who had acted as supporters arrived in two cars namely blue Avanza and black APV vans while two others who had tried to prevent the action in a Feroza jeep. "The executor is known by his initial as U. Nine of them are non-commissioned and enlisted officers," he said. Unggul said that two of them had actually tried to prevent the attack but failed. He said the attack was done spontaneously in response to the killing of Kopassus member chief sergeant Heru Santoso at Hugo`s Cafe on March 19 and an attack on former Kopassus member first sergeant Sriyono by the four thugs. "It is true the raid on the Cebongan penitentiary was done in response to the attack by the thugs on their colleagues that led to the death of them (Heru Santoso),"he said. The investigators have visited several places including the penitentiary, the Yogyakarta Military Command and the Kopassus Group II headquarters in Karang Menjangan, Solo, and questioned 25 people. Secretary General of the ruling Democratic Party (PD) Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono(Ibas) said the Army`s step to announce the investigation results of its team was a new positive culture. "The openness indicates the military`s new positive culture. The military will no longer tolerate soldiers who act outside the command line," Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono said. Edhie extended his appreciation to Army Chief of Staff General Promono Edhie Wibowo who took the initiative to form an Army investigation team to look into the shooting to death of the four detainees.