Gus Dur warns govt against arbitrary arrests

Gus Dur warns govt against arbitrary arrests

JAKARTA (JP): Former president Abdurrahman Wahid, familiarly
known as Gus Dur, warned the new government against the arbitrary
arrest of prodemocracy activists, saying it would sow hatred
against the security authorities.

Abdurrahman, also chairman of the advisory council of the
National Awakening Party (PKB), said the continuing arrests of
prodemocracy activists in East Java and other regions was
evidence that the new government, which was appointed by the
recent "unconstitutional" special session of the People's
Consultative Assembly, was repressive and undemocratic.

"The security authorities should not arrest any person
arbitrarily or based on engineered grounds because this will
certainly engender popular hatred against both them and the
government.

"If the detainees are suspected of having been involved in
public order offenses, let the courts decide whether they are
guilty or not," he said after a party meeting here on Saturday.

The East Java Police have reportedly arrested dozens of
prodemocracy activists, including local leaders of the People's
Democratic Party (PRD), for handing out leaflets calling for the
general election to be brought forward.

Gus Dur said several of the detainees had been released after
being subjected to indoctrination "but this will certainly
increase their hatred against the government and security
authorities.

"Therefore, I call on the National Commission on Human Rights
to investigate these arbitrary arrests to ascertain whether the
detainees violated the law or not," he said.

He added he could not handle the arbitrary arrests himself as
he had yet to establish his planned foundation on human rights
and democracy.

When asked who would replace Matori Abdul Djalil, who has now
been appointed as minister of defense, Gus Dur said that this
would be decided at a national meeting of the party scheduled for
Monday and Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Muhaimin Iskandar, the secretary-general of the
PKB, said the main agenda of the party's national meeting was to
decide the fate of Matori and of the PKB faction in the
legislature, which had been dissolved following the issuance of
the decree attempting to suspend the legislature by then
president Abdurrahman Wahid.

Muhaimin said the national meeting would decide what sanctions
would be imposed on Matori, who broke party ranks on the special
session, and would appoint acting party chairman Alwi Shihab as
the definitive chairman.

Meetings of the party's advisory and executive boards last
week dismissed Matori from the party for his participation in the
Assembly's special session that removed Abdurrahman from the
presidency.

Muhaimin said that despite the party' support for the decree,
the national meeting would likely recommend the revival of the
party factions in the House and Assembly to maintain the PKB
legislators' monthly incomes and enable them to continue to
represent their constituents.

"Besides the question of representation, the financial
question is another reason why a lot of our legislators want to
revive the PKB factions," he said, adding that several PKB
legislators needed money to pay the installments on their cars.

However, if the national meeting decided to permanently
dissolve the PKB factions in the legislative bodies, Muhaimin
said the PKB would turn itself into an "advocacy party" to help
uphold democracy and protect human rights in the country.

"To me, the fate of the PKB factions depends on an assessment
of how well it can play its political role in the legislature,"
he said. (rms)