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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