300 extremists await trial in Central Java

300 extremists await trial in Central Java

TEGAL, Central Java (JP): The Commander of the Diponegoro military command, Maj. Gen. M. Yusuf Kartanegara, said yesterday that some 300 extremists in the province have been arrested for various subversive activities.

The arrests were made in the regencies of Banyumas, Purwokerto, Purbalingga, Cilacap, Tegal, Brebes, Pekalongan, Batang and Pemalang.

He did not specify at what time the arrests were made.

Yusuf said the extremists used tactics similar to that of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and operated under the guise of religious activity. They were preying on weak-minded Moslems, luring them to establish an Indonesian Islamic state, he said.

Yusuf said five of the extremists -- Heru Antono, Dwi Atmoko, Ponidi, Teguh Mulyaningsih and Sri Purwanti -- all arrested in the Banjarnegara regency, will be brought to trial as soon as possible.

He said that they had traveled the province pretending to be clothing traders, while all the time spreading their teachings and recruiting new members from unsuspecting buyers.

Yusuf noted that such a tactic is a common PKI strategy to find sympathizers and quietly disseminate their ideology.

He also said the extremists are unrelenting in their attempts to spread their misguided beliefs, which are against the state Pancasila ideology and the 1945 Constitution. So far, however, the extremists have not been successful in "disrupting stability", he said.

The PKI has been outlawed in Indonesia since a failed communist coup attempt in 1965.

The government maintains a strong awareness of communist activities in Indonesia and contends that despite the demise of the PKI 30 years ago, it remains a latent force which could at anytime destabilize the country.

"My aim is to redirect them so they can return to the right path," Yusuf said of the five about to be tried. (wah/mds)