Military plans further crackdown on PRD activists<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): While the military has vowed to continue its
\ncrackdown on \"communist-like movement\" activists, human rights
\ncampaigners charged that force had been used by the authorities
\nin their interrogation of five students arrested here last week.<\/p>\n
Budi Santoso of the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Office said here
\nyesterday that Muhammad Ali, Wisnu Agung, Harry Kurniawan, Eko
\nPrastowo and Yohannes Librayanto had been released on Saturday,
\n24 hours after they were arrested, with marks of ill-treatment.
\nThe students had reportedly sought medical treatment after their
\nrelease.<\/p>\n
Budi and his colleagues picked up the students at the
\nYogyakarta police headquarters; the students were earlier
\ndetained at the Yogyakarta military command.<\/p>\n
Budi described the students' condition as \"appalling\". \"Their
\neyes were black and blue and they had bruises on their faces.
\nSome had blood spots on their shirts,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Budi quoted one of the students as saying that security
\npersonnel forced them into admitting they were members of the
\nDemocratic People's Party (PRD), a student organization the
\nmilitary claimed was behind the recent riots in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Budi also alleged that violence had been used against the
\nstudents once they were inside a car that transported them from
\ntheir campus to the military command.<\/p>\n
The students could not be reached for comments since their
\nrelatives picked them up from police headquarters. Another
\nstudent organization -- the People's Front for the Salvation of
\nDemocracy -- has stated that the five were its members, not the
\nPRD's.<\/p>\n
The PRD is an umbrella group of student, worker and farmer
\norganizations that was set up in 1995 to channel pro-democracy
\ndemands. It has been accused of masterminding the violent rioting
\nthat erupted in Jakarta on Saturday, July 27, as well as smaller
\nwaves of protests following the forced takeover of the disputed
\nheadquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party.<\/p>\n
PRD chairman Budiman Sujatmiko is currently in hiding.<\/p>\n
Armed Forces Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan
\nHamid had vowed that the military would continue to crack down on
\nPRD activists.<\/p>\n
\"The government will continue pursuing them, because they have
\nto be held accountable for what they did in the `July 27
\nIncident',\" Syarwan said after meeting with foreign envoys here
\non Monday. \"They were behind the rioting, which has forced the
\nauthorities to arrest hundreds of people.\"<\/p>\n
Syarwan was commenting on reports that Budiman might have fled
\nabroad.<\/p>\n
\"Those who had been arrested were only pawns, while the
\n'brains' behind the rioting have fled from their responsibility,\"
\nhe said. \"I pity those who had been arrested only because they
\nwere instigated.\"<\/p>\n
There have been varying reports on the number of people
\ndetained, with Syarwan saying 170 people had been arrested as of
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
In Surabaya, Chief of the Brawijaya Military Command Maj. Gen.
\nImam Utomo was quoted by Antara as saying that members of PRD and
\nits wing -- Indonesian Students' Solidarity for Democracy --
\nmight have spread to various regions in East Java.<\/p>\n
\"I believe there are (PRD members here),\" he said. \"The
\ndemonstrations of workers in Jombang recently must have been
\ninstigated by PRD.\"<\/p>\n
Imam also said the military is currently pursuing 30 to 40 PRD
\nmembers for questioning.<\/p>\n
In Banda Aceh, police chief Abdul Hamid Busra also called on
\nlocal police to prevent PRD activists from entering Aceh
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
In Bandung, West Java, students and activists of the Bandung
\nLegal Aid Office began a peaceful demonstration of concern over
\nthe current situation by fasting.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, National Commission on Human Rights member
\nSoetandyo Wignyosoebroto said in Surakarta, Central Java that the
\ncommission will go all out in obtaining facts on the rioting and
\nhelping to clarify the actual number of casualties in the
\nincident. (30\/17\/swe\/har)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/military-plans-further-crackdown-on-prd-activists-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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