Legislators brand wanted scientist 'coward, hypocrite'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Two legislators reacted strongly yesterday to
\nthe news that social scientist George Aditjondro was seeking
\npermanent resident status in Australia to avoid criminal charges
\nin Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The ruling Golkar faction's Krissantono said the scholar was a
\n\"coward\", while Kamil Shahab, also of Golkar, branded George a
\n\"hypocrite\".<\/p>\n
Separately, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas underlined
\nthe fact that Indonesia and Australia had an extradition treaty.<\/p>\n
Alatas said, however, that any decision to commence
\nextradition proceedings against George would be left to the
\npolice and the prosecutors' office.<\/p>\n
George said recently in Perth that he had decided to seek
\npermanent residency in Australia after consulting the Western
\nAustralian branch of the International Commission of Jurists.<\/p>\n
The 49-year-old social scientist, who is currently lecturing
\nin Asian Studies at Perth's Murdoch University, is wanted by
\nYogyakarta police on charges of slandering the Indonesian
\ngovernment during a seminar at Universitas Islam Indonesia.<\/p>\n
George has already ignored three police summons and the
\nauthorities say they have contacted Interpol regarding the
\npossibility of bringing him home to face the charges.<\/p>\n
\"If he is a responsible person, he should come home to face
\nthe investigation and the trial. He shouldn't stay in Australia
\nand seek some kind of asylum,\" said Krissantono.<\/p>\n
George should live up to his claim to be someone who loves
\ndemocracy and should not run away from his responsibilities,
\nKrissantono told Antara.<\/p>\n
\"He should face the consequence of his actions,\" Krissantono
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Krissantono said George should follow the example set by
\nsenior journalist and democracy campaigner Mochtar Lubis, who has
\ntwice been jailed for speaking out against the government. \"He
\nchose to be tried while some of his colleagues fled,\" the
\nlegislator said.<\/p>\n
\"I have more respect for Sri Bintang Pamungkas, because he has
\nthe courage to face the consequences of his actions,\" Krissantono
\nsaid, referring to the outspoken politician from the United
\nDevelopment Party.<\/p>\n
Sri Bintang was dismissed from his seat in the House of
\nRepresentatives by his own party last month. He is now facing
\ncharges that he took part in a demonstration against the
\nIndonesian government in Germany in April.<\/p>\n
Another Golkar legislator, Kamil Shahab, called George a
\n\"hypocrite\" for taking a course which, he said, was the most
\nconvenient for the scholar.<\/p>\n
Kamil said, however, that the authorities should not take
\nsteps to bring George back. \"If he doesn't consider Indonesia his
\ncountry anymore, what are we to do?\"<\/p>\n
Alatas said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
\nmonitoring the case and, in particular, was keeping abreast of
\nwhat the police were doing.<\/p>\n
\"We don't know yet what will come out of it. If he refuses (to
\nreturn to face the charges), and also conveys this refusal
\nofficially, then we'll see what the police want us to do,\" he
\nsaid. \"We have an extradition treaty with Australia, but that is
\njust a fact that I wanted to remind you of.\" (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/legislators-brand-wanted-scientist-coward-hypocrite-1447893297",
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