Goenawan, Ali Sadikin questioned

Goenawan, Ali Sadikin questioned

JAKARTA (JP): Senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad and former
Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin were questioned yesterday by members
of the Attorney General's Office as witnesses in subversion cases
being built against a group of political activists.

Goenawan and Ali separately faced around five hours of
questioning. They are the latest outspoken government critics
summoned as witnesses in the cases against Budiman Sudjatmiko,
the head of the small Democratic People's Party (PRD), and
Muchtar Pakpahan, who chairs the independent Indonesian
Prosperous Labor Union.

Budiman and Pakpahan were arrested and charged with subversion
following the riots here on July 27, which, according to the
National Commission on Human Rights, left at least five dead and
more than 100 injured. Conviction for subversion carries a
maximum penalty of death.

"Basically, I was called in as a witness in the case against
Muchtar Pakpahan," Ali told journalists, adding that he had not
been asked a single question related to Budiman.

Goenawan, on the other hand, said his interrogators mostly
wanted to know about Budiman.

"I know him (Budiman) since he is associated with KIPP,"
Goenawan said, referring to the Independent Election Monitoring
Committee, an independent poll watchdog set up by a group of
intellectuals in March to monitor the 1997 general elections.

Goenawan chairs the organization, which the government does
not recognize.

Ali Sadikin's lawyer, Adnan Buyung Nasution, said that his
client had explained "everything he knew" about Pakpahan and that
as far as his client was aware there were no subversive
activities linked to the labor leader.

"Improving the lot of workers is good," Sadikin said of
Pakpahan's work.

Ali Sadikin said that he had met Pakpahan several times at
various functions but added that "we never had a special
organized meeting."

Neither he nor Goenawan were told whether to return for
questioning; Attorney General Singgih has said that they could be
called back up to 10 times. He also said there's the possibility
that the witnesses might become suspects.

The July 27 riots erupted after a group of supporters of
Soerjadi, the government-backed chairman of the Indonesian
Democracy Party (PDI), forcibly took over the party's
headquarters occupied by supporters of ousted PDI chief Megawati
Soekarnoputri.

Megawati herself faces a third round of questioning today,
this time by the Attorney General's Office after two earlier
sessions at the Jakarta police headquarters.

Yesterday, Goenawan and Ali expressed their conviction that
neither Budiman nor Pakpahan should be accused of subversion.
Goenawan said both "were too weak to plot a conspiracy to
overthrow the government."

Ali Sadikin said he believed that Pakpahan has always
conducted "open" activities, whereas activities for subversion
are usually clandestine.

Ali said he first knew of Pakpahan when the latter set up his
labor union in 1992; they met several times since. However, the
two never engaged in any joint activities.

"I was only interested in his union because Pakpahan wanted to
improve workers' conditions," Ali told journalists. He went on to
describe the dire conditions faced by many workers in the
country.

Some 25 questions were posed to Ali and 20 to Goenawan, who is
the former editor-in-chief of Tempo, a magazine banned by the
government in 1994.

Goenawan said his interrogators treated him "very politely;
their questions were focused and uninteresting." (16)

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