Govt undecided if Arifin in alleged plot

JAKARTA (JP): The government remained undecided yesterday about the legal status of oil tycoon Arifin Panigoro, who has been accused of involvement in a conspiracy of intellectuals to disrupt national stability and order.

"The case is still under police investigation. No decision has been made on the suspect Arifin Panigoro," said Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Gen. (ret) Feisal Tanjung yesterday.

Speaking to reporters after chairing the Seventh Development Cabinet's first coordinative meeting on political affairs and security, Feisal said the police investigation into the alleged conspiracy was touched upon in the meeting.

He said the government would stop the probe if it failed to gather enough evidence to support the allegation. "On the other hand, we'd proceed with a trial if the evidence supports the allegation," he said.

Arifin, owner of the giant Medco Energi Corporation, was invited to a discussion held by the Center for Strategy and Policy Studies at the Radisson Hotel in Yogyakarta on Feb. 5. The center is led by government critic Amien Rais, who is also chairman of the 28-million-strong Muhammadiyah Moslem organization.

Police opened an investigation into the meeting, attended by 18 participants, after receiving a copy of a report sent by one of the participants, Sofian Effendi, to his boss, then state minister of research and technology B.J. Habibie.

The meeting, according to Sofian's report, discussed efforts to mobilize one million people onto the streets of Jakarta on March 1, the first day of the five-yearly General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

The Assembly reelected President Soeharto for a seventh consecutive term, appointed B.J. Habibie vice president and endorsed the 1998/2003 State Policy Guidelines.

The meeting participants are also alleged to have denounced the government and discussed efforts to disrupt stability and order.

Arifin has been formally charged and, if found guilty, may face a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment.

Arifin's legal advisor, Todung Mulya Lubis, called on police to discontinue the investigation because the allegation was groundless.

"In my opinion, Arifin cannot be held responsible for the content of the meeting as it only discussed social and economic problems in general," he told The Jakarta Post Wednesday.

"Should the government press ahead with court proceedings, the country's image will be ruined," he said.

He said he did not believe that Arifin had the capability to mobilize one million people onto the streets as he was not a politician but purely a businessman.

"Arifin had no intention of toppling the government or disrupting the general session of the MPR," he said.

Mulya said it was natural that the meeting participants, including Arifin, would be involved in heated and critical debates as they were all intellectuals.

"And yet the discussion was civilized and in compliance with the Constitution," he said.

He said the allegation was an illusion created by Sofian.

Mulya said his client had not yet decided whether to sue Sofian.

Another participant, political observer Afan Gaffar, has already strongly protested Sofian's report and threatened to sue him. (imn)