Manhunt for subversives continues

JAKARTA (JP): After capturing Budiman Sudjatmiko of the Democratic People's Party (PRD) for allegedly masterminding the July 27 riots, the military has vowed to continue its hunt for subversives.

Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung said yesterday the authorities were tracking down the culprits who used Budiman as a puppet to further their political goals.

"The authorities mean to clamp down on them to prevent the emergence of new Budimans," Feisal was quoted as saying by the chairman of the Laskar Ampera Arief Rachman Hakim foundation, Yusril Yusan.

The foundation's members include former student activists from 1966 who played a pivotal role in the birth of the New Order administration under President Soeharto.

Feisal said Budiman and the other PRD activists now in custody represented "the front line" threat. He said the second line must be crushed because it would breed "new troublemakers like Budiman".

The authorities captured Budiman and nine other activists on Sunday and early Monday morning. They have been accused of inciting the July 27 riots.

Separately, spokesman for the Attorney General's office Pontas Pasaribu said his office had started questioning the PRD leaders facing subversion charges.

The 1963 subversion law stipulates that any person aiming to sew hatred against the government or change the state ideology Pancasila could face the death sentence. It allows detention of a suspect for up to one year without trial.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (LBH) criticized investigators from the attorney general's office for not allowing three defense lawyers to meet their clients, Garda Sembiring and Benny Sumardi, who are in custody.

Spokesperson for LBH Dewi Novirianti said the investigators had turned away the defense lawyers from LBH and the Jakarta Social Institute on the pretext that the suspects needed no lawyers at their present stage of questioning.

"The Attorney General's office trampled on articles 54, 59 and 61 of the criminal code procedures which guarantee that a defendant has the right to be accompanied by lawyers at all stages of investigation," Dewi said.

The law states that anyone facing 15 years or more in jail has the right to be accompanied by lawyers and be visited by relatives, Dewi said.

Adding to the defense lawyers' dismay was the prosecutors' refusal to give them copies of the arrest warrants for the suspects. The prosecutors promised that they would send the documents later.

Chairman of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Bambang Widjojanto urged the authorities yesterday to uphold the presumption of innocence for the detained political activists.

"The government should stop charging that the PRD activists are communist because it punishes the defendants although they have not been convicted by a court of law," Bambang said.

He said the various government officials who have told the public to beware of non-governmental organizations showed a lack of political maturity.

"The call denies increasing public demand for greater democracy in Indonesia," he said.

The police yesterday questioned another two senior legislators from the Indonesia Democratic Party (PDI), Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno and Sabam Sirait, as witnesses in Budiman's case.

In another development, Soetardjo and Sabam said they were questioned on their participation in the free speech forums at the PDI headquarters and on their relationship with Budiman.

On Monday, the rectors of six government and private universities in West Java issued a joint-statement that they would dismiss their students who were PRD members or sympathizers.

"We do not want our campuses to be infiltrated by a dangerous ideology brought by students who have been active in anti- government protests," read the joint statement, as quoted by the Merdeka daily.

The statement was issued after a meeting of the six rectors in response to a call by Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro. He had asked the rectors of Indonesian universities to take firm action against any of their students involved with PRD activities. (imn/16/pan)