Dissident George returns home

Dissident George returns home

JAKARTA (JP): Sociologist George Junus Aditjondro returned
home on Sunday for the first time since moving to Australia in
1995 after he fell foul of the Soeharto regime.

Jubilant activists hoisted him up on their shoulders after he
left the arrival gate at the Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport.

George, 52, had told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that he was
invited by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) to speak
at a conference.

He was wanted in 1994 by Yogyakarta police on charges of
slandering then president Soeharto. The government had contacted
Interpol on the possibility of bringing him home to face the
charges, but on Sunday there was no sign of police attempting to
make an arrest.

George is best known for his research on the wealth of the
political elite, including former president Soeharto and
President B.J. Habibie. He is also a noted scholar of East Timor.

Currently teaching a course on the sociology of corruption at
Newcastle University, he told reporters at the airport that
Soeharto was trying to dupe the nation with his recent denials of
great wealth.

George, who was dismissed from Central Java's Satya Wacana
University in 1995 when he was put on the police wanted list,
also blasted the government inquiry into Soeharto's assets as
"cosmetic".

"What we see now is that the whole Habibie government, from
the president down to the attorney general, is being fooled by
Soeharto."

Soeharto must be investigated by the police, meaning he should
be summoned as a suspect for violating the corruption law, he
said.

George said he would use his week-long visit to evaluate the
sense of democracy in the country and visit his family in
Semarang. (aan)