Police release activist Andi Arief<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Student activist Andi Arief, who was abducted in
\nsouthern Sumatra in March but found one month later in a Jakarta
\npolice cell, was released by police Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
Munir from the Commission of Missing Persons and Victims of
\nViolence (Kontras), who handled Andi's release, said tough
\nnegotiations were involved.<\/p>\n
\"We were in a tug-of-war for two weeks,\" Munir told
\njournalists at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation office in
\nCentral Jakarta yesterday.<\/p>\n
Munir said Andi, 27, the chairman of the Indonesian Students
\nSolidarity for Democracy (SMID) which is a student wing of the
\noutlawed People's Democratic Party (PRD), was taken by his family
\nto his hometown of Lampung yesterday morning.<\/p>\n
Munir said Andi was in good health but he and his family
\nrequested time alone to recover from the psychological stress of
\nthe ordeal.<\/p>\n
\"Although during the detention he felt no physical pressure,
\nhe felt threatened by the fact that he could be taken by his
\nabductors at anytime,\" Munir said.<\/p>\n
Andi, a graduate of Gadjah Mada University's School of Social
\nand Political Sciences, was abducted by an unidentified gang in
\nLampung on March 28.<\/p>\n
Andi's father, M. Arief Mahya, said in April his son told him
\nthat after being abducted he was taken by ferry from Bakaheuni,
\nLampung, to Merak, West Java, and then overland to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
He was subsequently taken to Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, and
\nblindfolded. He was then driven for one and a half hours to an
\nunknown destination and placed in a cell where he remained until
\nbeing handed over to police on April 17.<\/p>\n
Police maintain Andi was in their custody from March 29, a day
\nafter he disappeared, and was arrested for his alleged
\ninvolvement in a bomb explosion at a low-cost apartment in
\nCentral Jakarta in January.<\/p>\n
Munir said that earlier yesterday he met the National Military
\nChief Maj. Gen. Syamsu Djalal and requested a security guarantee
\nfor Andi.<\/p>\n
\"The National Military Police has agreed and during the
\nmeeting Syamsu directly contacted the Lampung military command
\nand local military police to notify them to give special
\nattention to Andi's safety,\" Munir said.<\/p>\n
Munir said Andi also confirmed that members of the Army's
\nspecial force were involved in the abductions.<\/p>\n
The military police said Tuesday they had detained five
\nofficers of the Army's special force in connection with a series
\nof abductions of political activists over the past year and are
\npreparing dossiers for their court-martial.<\/p>\n
Two other special force members are under intensive
\ninvestigation. (byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-release-activist-andi-arief-1447893297",
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