“My son, Wawan, was one of them. He was in a rally along with thousands of students in Jakarta. They asked for special session of parliament to prepare new election, after the fall of President Soeharto, the fall of dictatorship.”
“Wawan was so cute and funny. When we were angry, he suddenly made something that was so funny. When he was around, we were all happy. His smile... and he grew up... but... he was shot. And he passed away in that tragedy.”
“Wawan, my son, was one of several students who were shot. Troops, on the Semanggi bridge, pointed guns to the students, shot them and then moved back, after that, they happily danced and sang. My son was shot when I was at my office. As a civil servant, I was asked to collect funds and food for the soldiers. But, ironically, the soldiers themselves shot my son.”
“At the hospital, I touched his head and the whole body. I finally realized that there was a hole on Wawan's chest. I said “ Wawan, you’re shot,” But he had passed away, I covered him, prayed, and took him home.”
“Having the same spirit to seek justice, relatives of the victims then established an organization called "Swabella". I led the organization along with Suciwati, Munir's wife. Afterwards, we named the organization "Victims’ Solidarity for Justice". We decided to protest every Thursday, bringing black umbrellas. It is a silent protest. Silent does not always mean without voices. Our voices are written on the black umbrellas. The protests will always be held in front of the president's palace. The palace is a symbol of power and authority. We keep on asking for justice. So that there will be no more human rights violation in the future.”
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Audio:
(Prepared by F.X. Lilik Dwi Mardjianto for Multimedia Journalism)
