Activists report on arbitrary arrests

Activists report on arbitrary arrests

JAKARTA (JP): A group of activists have urged the National
Commission on Human Rights to probe what they called the
arbitrary arrest and disappearance of their colleagues.

Led by well-known playwright Ratna Sarumpaet, the supporters
of government critics Megawati Soekarnoputri and Amien Rais
called themselves the Siaga group.

They told the commission's secretary-general, Baharuddin Lopa,
Wednesday that seven Siaga activists were arrested without
warrants in Bogor, West Java, on Feb. 7 when they distributed
booklets containing Megawati's speeches.

They also reported that Siaga secretary Pius Lustrilanang and
Desmond Mahesadari of the Nusantara Legal Aid Institute
disappeared a few days before that. They said they feared that
Pius had been secretly arrested.

Ratna said that although the activists arrested in Bogor had
been released, they were required to regularly report to the
police and would be taken to court on charges of insulting
President Soeharto.

Lopa said the commission would look into the activists' claim.
He stressed that if it was true the activists were arrested
without the proper procedure, they should be released
immediately.

Separately, Ratna told The Jakarta Post yesterday that 18 more
Siaga activists in Bogor and one in Sukabumi were arrested
Wednesday without being charged.

Neither Pius nor Desmond had returned yesterday she said,
adding that Desmond was not involved in Siaga activism.

"We have every reason to believe that Pius' disappearance had
to do with his activity with Siaga."

She recalled that a Megawati supporter, Hendrik Sirait, who
disappeared in 1996 returned a week later only to report he had
been detained, mistreated and was now deaf. (pan)