Moslem students demand probe into Haryanto case
Moslem students demand probe into Haryanto case
JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of Moslem youths staged a noisy demonstration at the State Secretariat yesterday, demanding an investigation into the leaking of classified reports accusing Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto of corruption.
Calling themselves the Communication Forum for Jakartan Moslem Students, the 40 youths unfurled banners and waved placards.
The posters read, among other things, "Government officials, introspect!", "Put the state administration in order" and "Bring leakers of state documents to court!".
"Investigate and bring to court the leakers of the state secrets," read another placard.
While some 70 other students waited outside of the State Secretariat compound, those who were inside sang patriotic songs, chanted Allahu Akbar (Allah is Great) and demanded to meet with Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono to deliver their statement.
Three members of the group were let into the office but failed to meet with Moerdiono. An official at the office, Sukma Irawan, however, promised the students that they would meet with Moerdiono within the next two days.
"If after two days we don't receive any news or if (the minister) fails to hold a dialog with us, we'll return and demand a chance to talk (with him)," said one of the students, Ridwan Saleh.
The students also prepared a written statement, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post.
"We call on President Soeharto to instruct the Attorney General to investigate the case and solve the case in court," the statement said.
The students also called on Moerdiono to give his account of how the state documents were leaked.
"This case should serve as a lesson to improve the state administration management, and to increase supervision (to prevent) violations," they said.
The case started with the circulation in public of reports prepared by the Inspector General of Development Kentot Harseno for President Soeharto containing corruption charges against Haryanto.
Through Moerdiono on Dec. 26, Soeharto cleared Haryanto of the alleged financial misdeeds and declared the case closed.
Public discontent, however, has not died down. The first part of the affair was accompanied by waves of protests against Haryanto and demands for his resignation.
Following the government's announcement, however, protests shifted their focus to Harseno's reports and the leaking of the classified documents.
Yesterday, the students entered the compound through the back gate on Jl. Veteran and assembled in the front yard of the compound.
As they began to unfurl their banners and sing the national anthem, a minor scuffle broke out between the students and security personnel.
After some heated moments of debate, the security guards then allowed the demonstration to resume. Several minutes later, they dispersed the demonstration and escorted the students out of the compound.
The group staged a smaller demonstration last week outside of the Attorney General's office, delivering demands similar to yesterday's.
The event was the latest in a number of demonstrations criticizing the government's handling of the Haryanto case.
A number of groups, including the Forum for Development and International Studies, have accused Moerdiono of issuing flimsy statements on the case, which only spawned further problems.
Political observer Amien Rais called the whole affair a non- educational political spectacle, and warned that mudslinging campaigns against high level government officials might erode the government's authority. (swe)