Mulyana can defend himself: Syarwan

Mulyana can defend himself: Syarwan

JAKARTA (JP): Human rights campaigner Mulyana W. Kusumah can
defend himself against the military's allegation that he has past
communist links, a high-ranking Armed Forces (ABRI) officer says.

"Mulyana can issue a written statement to defend himself
against the allegation," Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, ABRI's Chief of
Sociopolitical Affairs, said yesterday.

"We're ready to discuss our differences," Syarwan said.

Speaking to reporters during a field trip to observe the on-
going voters' registration drive, Syarwan also insisted that the
University of Indonesia should not have hired Mulyana in the
first place because of his background.

Last month the military disclosed that Mulyana, in the 1960s,
was a member of a student organization which had been affiliated
to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) which was banned in 1966.

Mulyana had been active in the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation
and is currently secretary-general of the newly established
Independent Election Monitoring Committee. He teaches criminology
at the state-run University of Indonesia.

Syarwan fell short of making an outright recommendation that
the university expel Mulyana, but he underlined that according to
regulations, anyone who has had past communist links should not
be allowed to hold strategic positions.

Teaching is considered a strategic profession along with the
civil service, the military and politics.

Syarwan criticized the University of Indonesia for failing to
take this factor into consideration when it hired Mulyana, and
for repeatedly ignoring the information supplied by the
authorities about Mulyana's past.

The university's administrators say they are retaining Mulyana
for the time being, pending a review of his personal files.

Mulyana has denied that he had ever been a member of any
outlawed organization and called the accusation against him a
"political stigma" on the part of the authorities.

Several colleagues as well as legal experts have suggested
that he should take the authorities to court for making the
accusation.

Mulyana has also stated that he would try to resolve the issue
by legal means.

Accusations of past communist ties, no matter how remote, have
destroyed many people's careers, be they in government or the
private sector.

The military has also said that Mulyana is barred from taking
part in 1997 election because of his background. (imn)