ABRI names faces behind incidents

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) announced the names of three people whom it has identified with the "formless" organizations that have been blamed for recent acts of provocation.

ABRI Chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Soeyono identified the three as author Pramoedya Ananta Toer, scholar George Aditjondro and labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan.

"These are not rumors. These are the facts," Soeyono told reporters at his office.

"The organizations change their form constantly but the people behind them are always the same," he said. "Their objective is clear: to topple the government, split ABRI and set ABRI against the people, and destroy this nation."

Asked whether ABRI intends to take any action against the three men, he responded: "Don't be surprised if one of these days ABRI declares them as enemies. If they continue with their fight, they will have to deal with ABRI."

President Soeharto and senior government and military officials in the past week have issued several warnings about the existence of "formless" organizations whose activities bear the hallmarks of the now-outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

These organizations, they say, are preying on young people to spread communist teachings under the guise of democracy and human rights issues. ABRI has also linked some recent incidents of agitation to the activities of these "formless" organizations.

Until yesterday, however, they refrained from disclosing names.

Pramoedya, Indonesia's most renowned writer abroad, received the prestigious Magsaysay award for literature last month. The award prompted criticism from some fellow writers who recalled Pramoedya's campaign in the 1960s to clamp down on writers and artists opposing communism.

Soeyono also underlined Pramoedya's membership in Lekra, the PKI's cultural wing, as one reason to be suspicious of his recent activities.

Muchtar is the chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI), an organization still not recognized by the government. Muchtar was recently acquitted by the Supreme Court of charges of inciting last year's labor riot in Medan, North Sumatra.

"Muchtar is a PKI," Soeyono said, adding that Mucthar's father led the bloody, PKI-sponsored worker strike in Bandarbesi in North Sumatra in the 1960s.

Wanted

George, a vocal scholar who is wanted by the police for allegedly making remarks that insulted President Soeharto, is currently teaching and conducting research in Australia.

Soeyono described George as falling into the lesser "B Category", usually reserved for hardcore communists.

After the PKI was banned in 1966, the government put former PKI members into different categories. Category A for hardcore communists who took direct part in the 1965 abortive coup, Category B for hardcore communists who did not have a direct role, and so on.

"Look at what Aditjondro and Pramoedya wrote in the Australia- based Progress magazine as well as Aditjondro's recent comments which appeared on the Internet," Soeyono said.

Soeyono warned the three men, who are now on ABRI's black list, to stop their acts of provocation.

He also criticized those people, particularly the young, who have expressed support for or come to the defense of the three men.

Those people born after 1965 should improve their understanding of the nation's history lest they fall under the influence of these "formless" organizations, he said.

He expressed his concern with the many young people who, puzzled by ABRI's relentless warnings of latent communist dangers, have asked: "Is the communist danger really that bad?"

Meanwhile, an organization of former student leaders whose demonstrations in 1966 led to the banning of the PKI, yesterday urged the government to renew its campaign to purge the nation of communists and their sympathizers, whom, they say, have infiltrated the top levels of the bureaucracy.

The group, called Laskar Arief Rachman Hakim, said government agencies should begin now and not wait around for the military to conduct a screening.

The group's chairman, Djusril Djusan, told reporters that the group has a list of names of former PKI members and its supporters who are now holding top government positions.

He recalled that before it was banned, the PKI had three million members and over 21 million sympathizers.

"We should know where they are now and what they do," he said.

Djusril, however, declined to give any names. (rms/imn)