Activists demand stern action against Muslim hard-liners

Activists demand stern action against Muslim hard-liners

JAKARTA (JP): A coalition of non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), grouped under the Ornop Coalition, urged police on
Wednesday to take stern action against members of a hard-line
Muslim group who had committed acts of theft and vandalism in
connection with the raid on an international conference in
Sawangan, West Java, last week.

Indonesian Environment Forum (Walhi) executive director Emmy
Hadfild said after meeting National Police Chief Gen. Surojo
Bimantoro, harsh measures should be taken against members of
Angkatan Kabah Muda (AKM).

"AKM members committed acts of vandalism and they confiscated
cassettes, cameras and documents at the Depok conference. They
were armed with sticks and machetes and this is just not
acceptable," Emmy said.

AKM is an anticommunist group affiliated with the Muslim-based
United Development Party (PPP). The attack is believed to be part
of an ongoing campaign against Democratic People's Party (PRD)
chairman Budiman Soedjatmito, who the group says is a communist.

Emmy added that the Ornop Coalition were scheduled to meet
with legislators of the United Development Party (PPP) faction on
Thursday to discuss the same matter.

She also said that, after the meeting with the police chief,
activists had got the impression that Friday's police raid in
Sawangan was aimed at arresting Budiman.

Police have previously admitted to targeting Budiman and have
repeatedly threatened to arrest him. They believe that he plans
to cause disturbances in the capital which will disrupt the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) special session scheduled
for August.

"There are several allegations which police have leveled
against Budiman ... police were suspicious about why the
conference was private and whether Budiman spoke during the
conference.

"The police seem to be targeting Budiman for some reason.
Unfortunately, 32 foreigners got caught up in the mess ... they
were not at fault at all," Emmy said.

Police raided the Asia Pacific Labor Solidarity Conference on
Neoliberalism in the Sawangan Golf Inn on Friday Jun. 8 and
arrested 40 participants; eight Indonesians and 32 foreigners.

The foreigners were questioned for alleged visa violations and
held in custody for one night. Immigration authorities, however,
declared that, with the exception of one Pakistani, none of the
foreigners had violated any laws.

Newly installed National Police deputy spokesman Sr. Comr.
Edward Aritonang said separately on Wednesday that police would
provisionally consider that the attacks carried out by AKM
members were conducted independent of the organization.

"However, we are investigating the case, including the
possibility of the alleged involvement of PPP in the attack,"
Edward said.

Malaysia

The Sawangan incident has apparently discouraged other
foreigners from participating in seminars in the country.

Two botanists from Universitas Kebangsaan Malaysia have
canceled their plans to speak at a seminar on rare plants, which
is scheduled to take place here on Saturday in Bogor.

Ervisal AM Zuhud, a member of the organizing committee, said
on Wednesday that Prof. Abdul Latif and Dr. Kamaruddin Mat Saleh
canceled their trips to Indonesia following the Malaysian
government's warning about security conditions in the country,
Antara reported.

He said that the two experts may have been alarmed by media
reports about Indonesia's political situation.

"Maybe also because of reports about the police's raid of the
international conference in Sawangan," said Ervisal, who is head
of the Plants Conservation Laboratory at the Bogor Institute of
Agriculture.

He regretted their cancellations, saying that the two
botanists, experts in Rafflesia, were expected to be keynote
speakers at the seminar.

The one-day seminar, organized by the Rafflesia Foundation in
cooperation with the Bogor Botanical Garden and the Bogor
Institute of Agriculture, is aimed at conserving the Raflesia,
which is on the brink of extinction.

Ervisal said that the organizing committee hoped that the two
experts would still come to the seminar so that they could later
inform the Malaysian government that Indonesia, especially Bogor,
is a safe place.

"We have sent them an e-mail explaining the situation in
Indonesia, especially Bogor. We even told them that we will
collect them from the Soekarno-Hatta international airport," he
said. (ylt/sim)