Another activist tells story of abduction

JAKARTA (JP): While investigations seem to be focussing on the involvement of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) in the abduction of activists, witnesses maintain that other military units were also involved in various abductions.

Hendrik Sirait, one of the released abducted activists, claims he was abducted by intelligence officers from the Jakarta Military Command in Central Jakarta on Aug. 1, 1996.

"I was abducted by three people under the pedestrian bridge in front of Gajah Mada Plaza after attending Megawati's lawsuit hearing against the government in the Central Jakarta District Court," he recounted to journalists here Monday.

Hendrik, 26, is the coordinator of the People's Democratic Alliance (ALDERA).

He said that before being taken away, he was beaten up by the three plainclothes men.

The incident attracted the attention of two uniformed military personnel who happened to be passing by. They, however, proceeded to help in the beating after briefly conversing with the three men.

Hendrik said he was then shoved into a car and taken to a detention site on Jl. Kramat VII in Central Jakarta, where he was accused of inciting the July 27 riot following the forceful takeover of Megawati Soekarnoputri's party headquarters.

"I was beaten up, electrocuted in both of my ears and thumbs and my head was slammed against the wall during the interrogation," Hendrik said, adding that his abductors also burned parts of his body with cigarette butts.

Hendrik said he saw "Military Command Intelligence" inscribed on a typewriter used by the abductors during the interrogation.

Hendrik, a political science student at National University in South Jakarta, said he was then handed over to police five days later and released on Aug. 27.

"I felt that the police at that time were very angry because they had been made to take the blame (for my disappearance)," Hendrik said.

National Military Police Chief Maj. Gen. Syamsu Djalal said last month that other units might have been involved in the "process" of the abductions.

Munir, of the independent Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said Monday that a court-martial on the case should not begin until a military fact-finding team fully investigated other military units for their alleged involvement in the abductions.

Kontras, an non-governmental organization which has been actively searching for missing activists, said that at least 21 activists had been abducted since April last year. Nine of them, however, have resurfaced. (byg)