Independent team needed to probe kidnapping case<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Political observer Hermawan Sulistyo suggested
\non Thursday the government form an independent team to end the
\ndispute between the police and four agrarian activists, who claim
\nthey were abducted by security personnel.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters, Hermawan said such a team was needed to
\nlook for the truth since both parties had been giving conflicting
\nstatements to the public about the alleged kidnapping.<\/p>\n
\"If we want an independent investigation, the investigating
\nteam should be neither from police nor from the activists'
\ncolleagues,\" Hermawan said after attending a workshop on the
\nmedia and the police's independence at Hotel Sahid Jaya.<\/p>\n
He offered to be part of the team.<\/p>\n
\"Give me one week and it will be solved,\" Hermawan boasted,
\nadding that it would not be hard to find out which party was
\ntelling the truth.<\/p>\n
\"I will find out who benefited the most from the (alleged)
\nkidnapping,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The four activists of the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA)
\nreportedly went missing for 12 days since Aug. 14 after members
\nof the Jakarta Police put them into an ambulance at the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR) during MPR's 12-day Annual Session.<\/p>\n
The activists' legal representatives have said the protesters
\nwere forced into the ambulance.<\/p>\n
However, the police say they intended to take the activists to
\nthe hospital due to their weak condition after staging a hunger
\nstrike. They later claimed they dropped off the activists outside
\nthe General Elections Commission building.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 27, the four appeared in Jakarta, saying their unknown
\nkidnappers freed them from different cities in Java. They alleged
\nthe kidnappers gave them airline tickets to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
A few days later, the police announced that they doubted the
\nactivists, namely Anton Sulton, 26, Idham Kurniawan, 24, Usep
\nSetiawan, 28, and Muh. Hafiz Asdam, 23, had been kidnapped.<\/p>\n
The police said the whole thing was a dagelan (joke).<\/p>\n
The activists have ignored the Jakarta Police's summons for
\nquestioning, saying the police were part of the abduction.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the activists filed suit against the Jakarta
\nPolice demanding the police pay Rp 4 billion (US$476,190) in
\ncompensation, including for medical expenses, and rehabilitate
\nthe activists' names by running apologies to them in a number of
\nprinted and broadcast media.<\/p>\n
The activists are being represented by the Commission for
\nMissing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Jakarta
\noffice of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute
\n(YLBHI) and the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association
\n(PBHI).<\/p>\n
Also on Wednesday, legislator Hamdan Zoelva said the House of
\nRepresentatives would summon the four activists and the police to
\nclarify the matter.<\/p>\n
Separately, Kontras executive Munir said on Thursday that he
\nagreed with the House's plan to summon the two parties.<\/p>\n
However, he regretted the statement made by legislator Dimyati
\nHartono of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan), who said he agreed that it was unlikely the
\nactivists were kidnapped.<\/p>\n
\"Dimyati should have learned from (what happened in) the
\nPhilippines. There were more kidnapping cases in Cory Aquino's
\ntime than during (autocrat) Marcos' time due to the many
\npolitical clashes,\" Munir said.<\/p>\n
He said he had a sketch of a person who bought the airline
\ntickets in Semarang, Central Java, which were later reportedly
\nhanded to the activists by the other alleged kidnappers.<\/p>\n
Munir also refuted a police statement which stated the
\nactivists had not been kidnapped since they had kept
\ncommunicating with people via their cellular phones.<\/p>\n
\"The kidnappers were smart. They used the activists' phones to
\ncommunicate,\" Munir said. (jaw)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/independent-team-needed-to-probe-kidnapping-case-1447893297",
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