Ban on Japanese scholar at request of military
JAKARTA (JP): The government confirmed on Friday that renowned Japanese scholar Yoshihara Kunio has been barred from entering Indonesia at the request of Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto, who is also Minister of Defense and Security.
"Kunio is banned (from entering Indonesia) at the request of the ABRI chief for national security reasons," Director General of Immigration Muhammad Mudakir told reporters at the Ministry of Justice.
Mudakir, who is an active Army general, refused to elaborate on the ban, saying that his office was only carrying out instructions from the military.
Mudakir said the ban against Kunio was extended for another year last September.
"I am not sure when the government first imposed the ban on Kunio, but at the earliest he has been barred from entering the country since June 1995," Mudakir said.
Kunio was refused entry into Indonesia by immigration officials at the Soekarno-Hatta airport on Sunday.
His associates said that Kunio, who is a historian and teaches at the Southeast Asian Studies Center at Kyoto University, had intended to meet friends in Indonesia.
The government of former president Soeharto in 1991 banned a translated version of Kunio's 1988 book The Rise of Ersatz Capitalism in Southeast Asia, saying it undermined the long-time leader's credibility.
A source at the Justice Ministry told The Jakarta Post that the Immigration Office last September extended entry bans on at least 29 other foreigners, including a number of journalists, for another year, also at the request of the military.
Among them were Terry McCarthy from Time magazine, John Pilger from The Guardian and Steven Erlanger from The New York Times.
Mudakir said that as of March 9, 3,665 people were barred from entering the country.
He said that 3,373 people were barred from entry at the request of the Ministry of Justice for visa problems, 91 people at the request of the Attorney General's Office for criminal offenses and 201 people at the request of the military for national security reasons.
Among them were 92 Americans, 198 Australians, 55 Germans, 107 Dutch, 90 Japanese, 359 Chinese, 349 Malaysians, 373 Filipinos, 310 Pakistanis and 120 Thais, Mudakir said.
"A number of embassies have asked the government to reconsider these travel bans," Mudakir said, without elaborating.
Bank owners
Mudakir also said that so far his office had not received any order from the Ministry of Finance to impose travel bans on directors and owners of the 38 closed-banks.
"We are ready to slap travel bans on about 700 executives from those bad banks, but there has not been any request from the finance ministry," Mudakir said.
The government announced last Saturday the closure of 38 banks, including three owned by two sons and one daughter of Soeharto, in a bid to clean up the country's ailing banking sector.
A travel ban has already been imposed on Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo Mandala Putra, who is being investigated for his alleged involvement in a Rp 96 billion land scam.
Mudakir also said that as of March 9, 417 people were barred from leaving the country.
He said that 175 people were barred from leaving the country at the request of the justice ministry for immigration reasons, 216 people at the request of the Attorney General's Office for alleged criminal offenses and seven people at the request of the military for national security reasons.
Mudakir refused reveal the identities of the seven.
He also said that as of March 9, at least 14 people were barred from leaving the country at the request of the National Police. (byg)