Police free 32 foreigners detained in Sawangan raid<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police released 32 foreign participants of an
\ninternational conference who were detained after a raid on
\nFriday, but required them to report to the city police on Monday,
\nspokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Anton said the foreigners were released at about 5 p.m. on
\nSaturday and police then escorted them to their hotels. The
\nforeigners, 10 of whom are women, will be taken to the
\nimmigration office on Monday as they have misused their tourist
\nvisas.<\/p>\n
Anton acknowledged that the police had confiscated their
\npassports and other documents.<\/p>\n
\"According to the law, the police must release them 24 hours
\nafter their arrest if no evidence is found, so they have been
\nreleased\" said Anton.<\/p>\n
Australian Embassy spokesman Kirk Coningham confirmed the
\nrelease of 20 Australians, including a four-year-old girl. He
\nadded that he believed the other 12 people had also been freed by
\nthe police.<\/p>\n
\"The girl and her mother are well,\" Coningham said.<\/p>\n
Coningham said his embassy was working hard to settle the
\nproblem quickly. The embassy had also contacted the families of
\nthe Australians.<\/p>\n
\"They were released this afternoon. We are expecting a speedy
\nsolution,\" Coningham remarked.<\/p>\n
Police raided Sawangan Golf Inn in West Java on Friday
\nafternoon and arrested 40 participants of the Asia Pacific Labor
\nSolidarity Conference on Neoliberalism at the lodge. The
\nconference was organized by the Indonesian Center for Reform and
\nSocial Emancipation (Increase).<\/p>\n
The participants of the conference included Indonesians and 32
\nforeign nationals. Apart from the 20 Australians, the other
\nforeigners included two Belgians, an American, a Canadian, a
\nJapanese, a German, a Dutch, a Thai, a Pakistani and a French
\nnational.<\/p>\n
The eight locals detained, including Budiman Sudjatmiko, who
\nis chairman of the Democratic People's Party (PRD), were released
\non Friday night.<\/p>\n
Anton said only the Immigration Office had the authority to
\ndetermine the status of the foreigners, who had allegedly misused
\ntheir tourist visas by attending the conference.<\/p>\n
Citing Immigration Law No. 9, enacted in 1992, Anton said the
\nforeigners could be deported and blacklisted, in which case they
\nwould be barred from entering Indonesia for a certain period of
\ntime.<\/p>\n
\"Or they could be taken to court where they will face a five-
\nyear jail term if found guilty,\" Anton explained.<\/p>\n
Anton conceded that the police raid targeted Budiman, who is
\nalso a National Coalition of Anti New Order (Lindas) activist.
\nLindas is the Indonesian word for crush.<\/p>\n
Citing intelligence reports, Anton hinted that Budiman was
\nplanning to disrupt the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
\nspecial session in August. President Abdurrahman Wahid could be
\nimpeached in the session.<\/p>\n
\"We have been following Budiman for a long time. We have
\ninformation that he plans to disrupt the special session by
\ncreating chaos in Jakarta,\" Anton hinted.<\/p>\n
Police have repeatedly threatened to arrest Budiman.<\/p>\n
Former president Soeharto had imprisoned Budiman for his
\nantigovernment activities, and the latter had been called a
\ncommunist.<\/p>\n
Soeharto's successor, B.J. Habibie, freed Budiman. His party
\nPRD was even allowed to contest in the 1999 general election but
\nfailed to win any seats.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Lindas, which is against Soeharto's New Order
\nregime, condemned the arrest and accused the police of using the
\noppressive tactics of the New Order regime to stop antigovernment
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
It also lambasted Angkatan Muda Ka'bah, the anticommunist
\ngroup, affiliated to the Islam-based United Development Party,
\nfor their brutal attacks on the conference participants earlier
\non Friday.<\/p>\n
\"Their actions have tarnished the symbols of Islam which they
\nused as their cover. Such brutal actions can only be carried out
\nby the remnants of the New Order,\" said Haikal, Lindas spokesman.
\n(ylt\/prb)<\/p>",
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