Activist's parents deny accusation of communism
JAKARTA (JP): The military insisted yesterday that the chairman of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) Budiman Sudjatmiko was involved in communist-like activities aimed at undermining the government, despite his parents' tearful assertions that he was not.
Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid maintained that the military had proof of Budiman's involvement in communist-like activities.
"We have data which shows that he is from a leftist family...there are indications of this," Syarwan told reporters after briefing foreign envoys on Indonesia's current social and political situation.
Syarwan was responding to a report that Wartono Karyo Utomo, Budiman's father, came voluntarily to the attorney general's office to help with the investigation into the recent riots in Jakarta, which the authorities claim were instigated by the PRD.
Since the military's accusation that the PRD is structurally synonymous with the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), Budiman and other PRD activists have gone into hiding.
Through the press, Gatot Hendrarto of the attorney general's office has called on Budiman to come out of hiding for questioning.
Sobbing, Budiman's mother yesterday made a similar plea on television. Budiman's mother, Sri Sulastri, and his two sisters -- all wearing Islamic head scarves -- asked Budiman to come home and face the law. They returned to their home in Bogor, West Java, yesterday afternoon.
Wartono, an employee of the Good Year tire factory in Bogor, said his father was in the Hisbullah Moslem movement during the independence war in 1945.
"Mine is a devoted Moslem family. We taught our children to be religious, and they went to Islamic schools," Wartono said. "It's impossible that Budiman is involved in a leftist movement. I myself hate PKI."
Syarwan had earlier told reporters that Wartono was a former member of the PKI.
The Attorney General's Office yesterday also summoned Mulyana W. Kusumah, the secretary-general of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee, for questioning on the involvement of Budiman Sudjatmiko and Muchtar Pakpahan in the riots.
Pakpahan, the chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union, has been charged with subversion and is under arrest. Subversion is an offense punishable by death.
Also yesterday, Minister of Plenipotentiary of the Royal Netherlands Embassy Dick C.B. Den Haas, when asked about reports that Budiman had asked for a Netherlands' visa, said he could "neither confirm nor deny."
Meanwhile, the authorities have continued arresting people suspected of being involved in the riots and the organizations that allegedly instigated them. Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said the police have arrested three members of the Indonesian Students' Solidarity for Democracy group, which has been reported to be a wing of the PRD.
Two members were arrested in Central Java while the other was arrested here. Sources have identified two of the activists as Syamsul and Budi.
Hamami said the three will be investigated for attempted insurgency.
The military in Yogyakarta have reportedly released four of the five students that they arrested on Friday. There have been reports that the students suffered minor injuries, but the Sleman regency military command could not be reached for confirmation on this.
In Surabaya, East Java, ulemas and military leaders joined about 3,000 people in a flag-hoisting ceremony which was held by a group of former student activists who, in the 1960s, helped fight communism. (16/imn/mds/15/har/30)