Allan Nairn  (JP/DON)

The Jakarta Police questioned on Tuesday US journalist Allan Nairn as a witness in a libel case implicating former National Intelligence Agency (BIN) head AM Hendropriyono.

Survivors of the Talangsari tragedy filed a libel suit against Hendropriyono after he claimed that victims of the incident died of suicide instead of being shot by military personnel.

The Talangsari tragedy, also known as the Warsidi case, occurred on Feb. 7, 1989, in Cihideung village, Talangsari subdistrict, Rajabasa Lama district, Central Lampung (now part of East Lampung).

A battalion of soldiers from the Lampung military command post (Korem) reportedly attacked the village after dawn, killing hundreds of Warsidi congregation members.

Hendropriyono has repeatedly denied having any role in the attack.

In a recent interview with Nairn, he said the victims had committed suicide by hiding in burning houses when soldiers surrounded them.

'€œSuddenly they burned their own huts, which made so many people die. Yes, they committed suicide,'€ said Hendropriyono as quoted by Nairn on his website www.allannairn.org.

Azwar Khailli, one of the victims in the case, denied that dozens of victims committed suicide, and filed a police report against Hendro priyono in November 2014.

Hendropriyono was accused of violating Article 320 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) on insulting the deceased, which carries a maximum four-month jail sentence.

In a press conference in November 2014, 76-year-old Azwar said that Hendropriyono'€™s claim was a lie and suggested that he '€œneeds to see a doctor'€.

Azwar also said that his son, Warsito, who was only 11 years old at the time, was killed in the incident. Azwar said he had been informed by a resident that Warsito, who was climbing a tree, was shot by soldiers, who then dragged him into a house and set it on fire.

Following the incident, he said, surviving residents were detained at Korem headquarters in Bandar Lampung for months.

After six hours of questioning at the Jakarta Police'€™s general crime unit, Nairn said police investigators asked about his interview with Hendropriyono, in which Hendropriyono told him that hundreds of Talangsari victims committed suicide.

'€œPolice want to know about my interview with Hendropriyono, especially on his claim that Talangsari victims committed suicide, not murdered,'€ Nairn told reporters.

Following his questioning, Nairn said that he had also submitted an audio recording of the interview to the police.

'€œI also uploaded it on my website so the public can listen to the moment when Hendropriyono claimed that the Talangsari victims committed suicide,'€ Nairn said.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said that besides Nairn, the Jakarta Police had questioned Azwar and would summon more witnesses in the near future.

'€œI cannot reveal the next witnesses'€™ identities. All I can say is the police are still investigating the case,'€ Martinus said.

Early last year, in the lead-up to the July 9 presidential election, Nairn caused a stir by saying that presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, who ran against then Jakarta governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, could be a dangerous president if elected.

Nairn also published an interview with Prabowo that contained controversial statements including the former Army'€™s Special Forces (Kopassus) commander making derogatory comments about former president Abdurrahman '€œGus Dur'€ Wahid and saying that Indonesia was not ready for democracy.

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