Immigration asks Sofjan to delay all overseas trips<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Directorate General of Immigration has asked
\nbusinessman Sofjan Wanandi to remain in Indonesia because of his
\npossible involvement in a bomb blast last month.<\/p>\n
Directorate spokesman M.A. Ghani, was quoted by Antara as
\nsaying yesterday that the request was issued last Thursday
\npending an official appeal to ban the business tycoon from going
\noverseas.<\/p>\n
Ghani said the directorate general could not impose a travel
\nban on a person without a request from either the attorney
\ngeneral, the Armed Forces chief, the minister of justice or the
\nminister of finance.<\/p>\n
He said the order served only as \"a proactive measure\" and the
\ndirectorate general had no legal power to bar a person from
\ntraveling abroad.<\/p>\n
\"The proactive measure means that while waiting for an
\nofficial request, we ask him (Sofjan) to postpone any planned
\ndeparture. We are not imposing a travel ban on him yet,\" Ghani
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Requests for a travel ban from the attorney general deal with
\ncrimes, while those from the Armed Forces chief, the minister of
\nfinance and the minister of justice deal with security, unpaid
\ndebts to the government and immigration affairs respectively.<\/p>\n
Sofjan was questioned by intelligence officers from the
\nJakarta military command following reports that his name was
\nfound written in documents seized at the scene of a bomb
\nexplosion in a low-cost apartment in Tanah Tinggi, Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
The authorities suspected the bomb makers were activists of
\nthe banned People's Democratic Party (PRD).<\/p>\n
Sofjan, an exponent of the 1966 generation which supported the
\nestablishment of the New Order, was cleared of links to the PRD
\nbut City Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin warned
\nthat if new evidence implicating Sofjan in the plot was found, he
\nwould be taken to court.<\/p>\n
Antara said Sofjan, who chairs the Gemala Group, left for
\nSydney last Tuesday on an Ansett Australia flight.<\/p>\n
Sofjan was unavailable for comment yesterday, but one of his
\nassistants said he had returned to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Separately, 25 relatives of Amir Biki, a Moslem figure who was
\nshot dead in a military operation to quell a riot in Tanjung
\nPriok, North Jakarta, in 1984, rallied at the House of
\nRepresentatives to demand the prosecution of Sofjan and his
\nfellow ethnic Chinese businessman Sudono Salim better known as
\nLiem Sioe Liong.<\/p>\n
The leader of the group, Rusly Biki, said the two business
\ntycoons were responsible for causing the ongoing economic
\nturmoil.<\/p>\n
\"Both the House and security authorities should take measures
\nagainst them. Indonesian people, mostly Moslems, are severely
\naffected by the price hikes the businessmen have sparked,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Rusly accused the conglomerates under the leadership of Sofjan
\nand Sudono of stockpiling basic commodities for their own
\ninterests.<\/p>\n
\"We do not want unexpected riots to mar the general session of
\nthe People's Consultative Assembly in March, but they could
\nhappen if our demands are left unheeded,\" Rusly said.<\/p>\n
Danil Tandjung, a United Development Party legislator who
\nreceived the group, said he would channel the group's demands to
\nhis faction. He called on the demonstrators to comply with the
\nlaw, rather than to take harsh measures in the wake of the
\nprolonged economic turbulence. (amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/immigration-asks-sofjan-to-delay-all-overseas-trips-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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