Kontras releases sketch of KPA kidnapping suspect

JAKARTA (JP): The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) will disseminate a sketch of a man it believes was an accomplice in the alleged abduction of four activists of the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) last month.

The man, estimated to be in his 20s, is thought to be the person who bought airplane tickets bound for Jakarta from the Giantra Travel Bureau in Semarang, Central Java. The tickets, reserved under aliases, were then used to fly the activists back to Jakarta.

Kontras chairman Munarman said the owner of Giantra, Gianto, and staffer Wawan helped the commission draw a sketch of the young man's face, which will be disseminated to the police provincial headquarters.

The man is about 1.8 meters in height, with a dark complexion and a thin moustache. He has buck teeth and long, curly, shoulder-length hair.

Gianto and Wawan stated that the man's accent was not Javanese.

The man reportedly went to the Giantra office on Jl. MT Haryono on Aug. 24, 2000, at about 5 p.m. when the travel bureau was about to close.

He bought two Semarang-Jakarta tickets, and one each for Yogyakarta-Jakarta and Surakarta-Jakarta, all dated Aug. 25, 2000, Gianto said.

He said the man wore a wide-brimmed hat, shorts with two pockets on the hip and a brown shirt.

Gianto said the man paid in Rp 100,000 banknotes for all the tickets, worth Rp 1.2 million (US$141).

The man gave Gianto a cellular phone number, 0818917477, under the name of Asep, so that Gianto could advise him if any of the flights were delayed.

The four activists -- Anton Sulton, Idham Kurniawan, Usep Setiawan and Muh. Hafiz Asdam -- allegedly went missing on Aug. 14, 2000 after they staged a hunger strike during the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), demanding agrarian reform.

The four eventually turned up in Jakarta on Aug. 27 after returning from towns in Central Java.

After claiming to suffer from mental trauma, the four activists were taken in by Kontras and received psychiatric treatment.

The police plan to question the four whenever they are ready to make a statement. (bby)