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)