Immigration office in Medan

With reference to Donna K Woodward's letter in The Jakarta Post of Saturday, June 6, 1998, which was intended as a response to the letter of the public relations head of the Directorate General of Immigration (M.A. Gani) published on June 3, 1998 in the same newspaper, we would like to bring the following to your notice:

1. Pursuant to the laws prevailing in Indonesia, every complaint must be accompanied with authentic evidence. In the absence of such evidence, a complaint will be considered an act of tarnishing someone's reputation;

2. The response given by Mr. M.A. Gani in his capacity as public relations head of the Directorate General of Immigration is in keeping with point 1 referred to above;

3. To avoid a long-dragging polemic which will not settle any problem, it is suggested that:

a. Evidence, i.e. the victim as a witness, written evidence, the recipient officer and other information which may explain the circumstances at the time in question, should be presented immediately;

b. The said evidence should be presented directly to us so that the examination may soon be followed up.

4. As a law-abiding state, the Indonesian government guarantees that everyone domiciled in Indonesian territory will be entitled to make a legal attempt against the apparatuses' acts which do not conform to the prevailing stipulations. In this respect I guarantee that there will be no retaliation to anybody making this legal attempt.

Thank you for your attention.

Pranowo

Director General of Immigration