Hendropriyono fails to testify on Talangsari affair

"Pak Hendropriyono could not come because he is in the United States," Komnas HAM commissioner Yoseph Adi Prasetyo said.

Prasetyo also said Hendropriyono had claimed he had not yet received the summons, Yoseph said.

Actually, the rights body had sent the summons to Hendropriyono through his housemaid, he said.

"Since he failed to show up today, we will send a second summons to him in accordance with the Criminal Code. And if he still ignores it, we will send a third summons or warrant to him," he said.

The Komnas HAM deemed it necessary to summon him because he was the chief of the Garuda Hitam military command 043 in Lampung when the Talangsari tragedy happened, he said.

The commission was only summoning people who had good knowledge about the tragedy, he said.

He expressed hope that Hendropriyono would fulfill the second summons because his testimony was badly needed to uncover the alleged gross human rights violations.

Last month, the commission also questioned former Security and Order Restoration Command (Kopkamtib) chief Sudomo as a witness in the case.

The head of a "Talangsari Affair Advocacy Team", Johny Nelson Simanjuntak, said Sudomo had come to the Komnas HAM office at the commission`s request.

The commission had so far collected testimonies from 80 witnesses and would question more witnesses in the days ahead, he said.

Accordng to Simanjuntak, Komnas HAM was now in the process of preparing a dossier on the Talangsari affair which was expected to be completed in June 2008 for conveyance to the government through the Attorney General`s Office (AGO).

Meanwhile, ...