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)