T

he People'€™s Coalition for Military Court Monitoring (KRPM) is to report the intimidation of activists monitoring the Cebongan trial to the Indonesian Military (TNI), asking for an immediate response before things get worse.

Fifteen NGOs grouped under the KRPM managed to gather evidence that showed some activists had received threats from unidentified people.

'€œWe will send a letter to the TNI commander and the army chief,'€ said Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute director Samsudin Nurseha on Tuesday.

The letter will be signed by the 15 NGOs, including the Alliance of Independent Journalists'€™ (AJI) Yogyakarta branch, the Yogyakarta Press Legal Aid Institute (LBH Pers), the Indonesian Islamic University'€™s Center of Human Rights Studies (Pusham-UII) and the Institute for Development and Economic Analysis (IDEA).

It will also be sent to the Supreme Court (MA) and the Judicial Commission since the II-11 Yogyakarta Military Court, which currently handles this case, is under the MA'€™s jurisdiction.

Lukas Ispandriarno, a talk show host at state-run radio station Pro 1 RRI Yogyakarta, is one of the intimidated activists.

When he hosted the show on July 6, Lukas, who is also dean of Atmajaya University'€™s social science and politics department, read the headline of a newspaper that revolved around the Army'€™s Special Forces (Kopassus).

'€œLater, he received a text message, which said '€˜Don'€™t try to corner Kopassus, Pak Lukas can be eliminated'€™,'€ said Valentina Sri Wijiyati from IDEA Yogyakarta, who also handles the talkshow.

Samsudin said this intimidation ran against the right to express ideas.

Sumiardi, an activist at Pusham-UII, also allegedly was intimidated by unidentified man who came to his home and asked his identity.

Sumiardi was previously interviewed by a private TV station, said Pusham UII director Eko Riyadi.

Journalists covering the trial have also reportedly faced intimidation. According to LBH Pers Yogyakarta director Aloysius Budi Kurniawan, some of them have been summoned by a man who identified himself as a member the legal team for the 12 Kopassus soldiers currently on trial.

Aloysius said the man, who had identified himself as Gilang, told the deputy chief editor of Tribun Jogja, Setya Krisna Sumargo, that he had been invited to a meeting with the legal team at the Yogyakarta Military Police facility.

Gilang, however, refused to reveal the meeting'€™s agenda as well as to move the meeting to a more neutral area. Gilang also refused to use his legal right to seek clarification if the team thought their views were not properly expressed by Tribun Jogja.

'€œAccording to the Press Law, any party who objects to media reports should contact the media outlet to clarify the facts,'€ said Aloysius.

Separately, the head of the defendants'€™ team of lawyers, Col. Rokhmat, confirmed there was no member of staff named Gilang in his legal team.

The 12 Kopassus members '€” allegedly involved in the murder of four detainees in a prison in Cebongan, Yogyakarta '€” are standing trial.

Nine are charged with premeditated murder and three with failing to inform their superiors of the other nine men'€™s intentions.