Golkar plans to sue Permadi

Golkar plans to sue Permadi

JAKARTA (JP): The attacks on Permadi Satrio Wiwoho are coming harder and faster with Golkar leaders now announcing their plans to sue the psychic for slander.

"Just wait," Harmoko, chairman of the ruling political grouping, said in Semarang yesterday. "Golkar's executive board, through its legal foundation, is making preparations to file a lawsuit against Permadi for insulting Golkar."

Addressing thousands of Golkar supporters, Harmoko denied that the group had been "silent" in the face of Permadi's purported insult. The soothsayer allegedly compared Golkar to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which has been banned since 1966.

Harmoko said Golkar has been biding its time. "We're not silent, we're preparing a counter measure which is in accordance with the law," Harmoko said. All Golkar members are furious over his statements...They were all vicious insults and slanders."

He reminded the supporters that "Golkar is actually an organization which had actively campaigned against PKI."

"This organization is just like a bee ... it never bothers anybody, it benefits other people, but it will sting if it's disturbed ... Permadi's way out of line," he was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying.

Permadi has been in hot water with Moslem groups and the authorities for the last two weeks concerning his allegedly blasphemous remarks about Prophet Muhammad, and for insinuations about Golkar and President Soeharto. He has been in police custody since Monday.

He made the controversial remarks on two separate occasions, first during a scientific seminar at the Gadjah Mada University and again on a talk show on a Yogyakarta radio station.

During the talk show, Permadi predicted that the country would be rocked by political turbulence this year. The soothsayer predicted that Megawati Soekarnoputri, daughter of former president Sukarno and chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), would be the next president.

His critics have accused Permadi of suggesting that Prophet Muhammad was a dictator who failed to establish social justice. Permadi has said that he was misquoted and that his remarks were taken out of context.

In Jakarta, 16 Golkar-affiliated youth organizations as well as its legal foundation, LPPH, backed Harmoko's intention to sue Permadi.

In a statement, the youth organizations quoted Permadi's remarks on Golkar as follows:

"Me entering Golkar? Knock on wood. This black clothing will never be changed with yellow (the color of Golkar). For me, dear academicians, compare the crimes of the PKI with the present. Did the PKI ever threaten people into joining the party?"

The soothsayer, who is also chairman of the Indonesian Association of Paranormals, always appears in black attire.

LPPH chairman Albert Hasibuan and the youth leader, Moh. Yamin Tawary, acknowledged that they had never heard the actual recordings of Permadi's statements. Instead, they read about them from a transcription published in the Gatra weekly.

Meanwhile, six police officers from Yogyakarta are currently being questioned at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta. The six were present at Permadi's lecture at the university.

Deputy to the National Police chief for operational affairs, Maj. Gen. Koesparmono Irsan, said more people would be summoned to help with the police investigation.

Officials said Permadi may be charged with blasphemy, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment.

In Yogyakarta, Gadjah Mada University students who organized the seminar said yesterday that Permadi was only responding to a participant's question when he made the allegedly offensive remarks about Islam.

At the time, Permadi spoke alongside human rights activist Adnan Buyung Nasution, former home minister Rudini, chairman of Muhammadiyah organization Amien Rais, Ali Hardi Kiaidemak of the United Development Party (PPP), and Sutardjo Suryoguritno of PDI.

"Permadi's remarks about Prophet Muhammad was in response to a participant's statement that the prophet's power was centralistic in nature," Muhammad Jaedi, a member of the organizer, said. "At the time, not one participant showed any kind of reaction."

Tjuk Sahana, the radio station broadcast who hosted the talk show with Permadi, said that he has also been questioned by the authorities.

Tjuk broadcasted only some 15 minutes of the conversation with Permadi, but said that it is the master-recording of the whole interview, with a duration of 90 minutes, that has been circulated in Yogyakarta.

In the meantime, the furor over Permadi's remarks continues to fester in many Moslem groups. The Aceh chapter of the influential Indonesian Council of Ulemas has called on the government to condemn Permadi with the death sentence.

In Jakarta, dozens of Moslem leaders grouped in the Forum Ukhuwah Islamiyah have also condemned Permadi. (swe/29/mun/r. fadjri)