Goenawan Muhamad protests Ratna's arrest

JAKARTA (JP): Noted government critic Goenawan Muhamad and the Indonesian Society for Humanity are among the growing voices expressing their concern over the arrest of actress Ratna Sarumpaet and eight other activists. They were charged with illegally organizing a political meeting.

Goenawan, former editor of the now banned Tempo magazine, attempted to meet with members of the National Commission on Human Rights here yesterday to complain about the arrest.

But his efforts were in vain as all commission members were tied up with busy schedules.

No appointment had been scheduled between Goenawan and any of the commission members.

"That's okay. As so many people are arrested the commission is busy. Understandably," Goenawan Muhammad told reporters.

Goenawan said he had come not only to express concern at Ratna's arrest but also her daughter's, Fathom Saulina, who's crime he claimed was merely accompanying her mother to the police station.

"I represent my own concerns. I represent my own anger," he commented, adding that Fathom's arrest was a "brutality in itself."

Police arrested the activists during a raid on a planned political discussion on Tuesday in North Jakarta

Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said Wednesday that the group had organized a political meeting without a police permit and were charged under a 1969 law restricting political activities.

If found guilty they face a maximum sentence of one year in jail.

The Indonesian Society for Humanity, who had one of its activists, Bonar Tigor Naipospos, among those arrested, joined the growing outcry at the arrests. It issued a statement demanding their immediate release.

The group's secretary-general, Andriyanto, said in a statement that the gathering could not be categorized as unlawful because the organizers did not disrupt public order and held the meeting in an indoor venue.

Ratna, who is also a member of Siaga -- a loose association which supports government critic Amien Rais and the ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party Megawati Soekarnoputri -- urged every Indonesian to closely study President Soeharto's inauguration speech.

"He voiced his willingness to receive criticism from any parties," Ratna said in a three-page handwritten letter made available to the press. (emf/byg)