Police 'must wait' until missing activists recover<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A human rights campaigner protested on Wednesday
\nthe City Police's plan to summon the four activists of the
\nAgrarian Reform Consortium (KPA), who had allegedly been
\nabducted, for questioning, suggesting that the police wait until
\nthe activists recover from their mental trauma.<\/p>\n
\"The police look keen in their effort to deal with the case.<\/p>\n
But, we have warned them that the four activists have yet to
\nrecover from their mental trauma. Therefore, the police must wait
\nuntil they are back to normal,\" Coordinator of the Committee for
\nMissing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Munarman told
\nThe Jakarta Post on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He was commenting on the police's latest plan to question the
\nactivists as witnesses at City Police headquarters on Friday. The
\nCity Police Criminal Investigation Unit sent the summonses on
\nThursday to the four activists.<\/p>\n
As of Wednesday, the four -- Anton Sulton, Idham Kurniawan,
\nUsep Setiawan and Muh. Hafiz Asdam -- were still under Kontras'
\nsupervision in a secure place in Jakarta and were receiving
\ntreatment from a psychiatrist.<\/p>\n
The four activists went missing on Aug. 14, after they staged
\na hunger strike at the MPR building, demanding agrarian reform.<\/p>\n
Complaining of feeling ill, some police medical personnel took
\nthe initiative of transporting them by ambulance to the police's
\nSoekanto Hospital in Kramatjati, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
But, on their way to hospital, the four said they felt better
\nand managed to persuade the police to drop them in front of the
\nGeneral Election Commission (KPU) building on Jl. Imam Bonjol in
\nCentral Jakarta. The four then had dinner at the Sogo department
\nstore in Plaza Indonesia, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
They were later abducted by six men while they were walking on
\nJl. Kebon Kacang after dinner.<\/p>\n
The four activists returned to Jakarta on Sunday from several
\nareas in Central Java, after they were released by the
\n\"suspected\" abductors.<\/p>\n
Since they were still suffering from mental trauma, the four
\nactivists were absent during a press conference held by Kontras
\nat its secretariat on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Munarman said that overhasty questioning would only make the
\nactivists suffer more trauma.<\/p>\n
\"The activists were held for two weeks by the abductor(s). The
\ntrauma will return if the police force them to quickly undergo
\nquestioning,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that Kontras was unable to say when the activists
\nwould be handed over to the police.<\/p>\n
He blamed the police for basing its investigation solely on
\nthe questioning of the victims.<\/p>\n
\"The police can question witnesses in Sogo, KPU or other
\nplaces. They can also investigate the bills for the victims'
\ntelephone recordings,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Separately, City Police spokesman Supt. Muhammad Nur H. Usman
\nslammed Kontras for its inconsistency in the case.<\/p>\n
\"At its press conference on Sunday, Kontras urged the police
\nto investigate the case. However, as of Wednesday, it has yet to
\nhand over the witnesses to us,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the witnesses' testimony was important for revealing
\nthe truth behind the incident, since the police would know the
\ndetails of their respective times with their abductors.<\/p>\n
He said the police wanted the case to be solved soon since
\nsome sections of the public had accused the police of being the
\nabductors.<\/p>\n
Nur said the police had the authority to bring the activists
\nto police headquarters for questioning by force if they failed to
\nappear after they had been summoned on three consecutive
\noccasions.<\/p>\n
Munarman said Kontras would resist the police's bid to compel
\nthe activists to testify if they were still suffering from
\ntrauma.<\/p>\n
\"We will fight the police's move, since the victims should not
\nbe forced to testify,\" he said. (asa)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-must-wait-until-missing-activists-recover-1447893297",
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