Friends confident Sofjan will return for probe

Friends confident Sofjan will return for probe

JAKARTA (JP): Firdaus Wadjdi, the chairman of the Indonesian
National Shipowners Association, said yesterday he believed that
businessman Sofjan Wanandi would return from abroad on time to
answer any police summons.

Firdaus, who fought alongside Sofjan during their student days
in 1966 to bring down President Sukarno, said he did not think
Sofjan was capable of defying the police.

"I know Sofjan very well. We go back a long way to our days as
student activists in 1966," he told The Jakarta Post.

"He is such a consistent person, who will always keep his
words and promises. I'm sure he will be home as soon as he
completes his business affairs abroad," he added.

Cosmas Batubara, a former cabinet minister and fellow student
activist, also vouched for Sofjan's integrity yesterday.

"He's not likely to flee the country. He's very loyal to the
nation," Cosmas said.

"I know he travels abroad a lot, but he does it for good
reasons. If they (the authorities) needed him for questioning,
they should just call him ... He will return."

Sources close to Sofjan said yesterday that he would return
from Australia this weekend.

Sofjan was questioned by the military last month in connection
with a bombing in Jakarta which the authorities said was
perpetrated by the outlawed Democratic People's Party (PRD).

The chairman of the diversified Gemala group was mentioned as
a potential financier in one of the documents found in the
Jakarta apartment where the home-made bomb exploded on Jan. 18.

Sofjan has denied any link with PRD, but he drew criticism
from the military by leaving for Australia last week.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung has said that while
Sofjan had not been barred from traveling abroad, he should stay
in the country in case the authorities needed him in connection
with the bombing investigation.

Firdaus, like Sofjan, was a member of the Front for Students
Action which organized street protests that led to Sukarno's
downfall and ushered in the New Order administration of President
Soeharto in 1966.

Several other former student leaders from that era, including
three now serving in the cabinet, have also attested to Sofjan's
integrity and character, and expressed the opinion that he was
unlikely to betray the New Order which he helped establish.

Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said yesterday that
Sofjan would be questioned again soon.

Hamami did not give an exact date but sources close to Sofjan
said that he had been summoned by the police for questioning as a
witness in the bombing investigation next Tuesday.

Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman said yesterday his office
had not received any request to ban Sofjan from leaving the
country.

The ministry, which oversees the Directorate General of
Immigration, had not received any request to slap a travel ban on
Sofjan either, Oetojo said.

The decision to issue a travel ban would depend on the bombing
investigation, he said.

By law, a travel ban can be imposed at the request of the
Armed Forces chief, the National Police chief, the Attorney
General or the Minister of Finance.

Close friends have said that Sofjan went to Melbourne to watch
the Australian Open tennis championship. (imn/byg/cst)