NGO to sue Gus Dur for slander
NGO to sue Gus Dur for slander
JAKARTA (JP): Leaders of a non-government organization are
suing popular Moslem scholar Abdurrahman Wahid for slander.
Bursah Zarnubi, chairman of student discussion group the
Humanika Foundation, said yesterday he and his colleagues would
sue Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, for accusing foundation
activists of masterminding the Dec. 26 riots in Tasikmalaya, West
Java in which four people were killed.
Abdurrahman, chairman of Indonesia's largest Moslem
organization the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), made his accusation in
front of youth leaders during a seminar held by the Bhinneka
Tunggal Ika Forum on Tuesday.
"We will file the lawsuit within the next few days on grounds
that he (Abdurrahman) violated the principle of presumption of
innocence," Bursah said.
In various interviews, Abdurrahman had expressed his
conviction that rioting in Tasikmalaya as well as in Situbondo,
East Java in October were contrived to tarnish his and the NU's
name.
He said one NU youth, Mimih Chaeruman, was tricked by Humanika
Foundation activists to start the Tasikmalaya riots.
Yesterday, Abdurrahman said he had evidence to support his
accusation and that the authorities should probe further into the
matter.
"It is not a matter of violating the principle of presumption
of innocence. If one cannot speak because of that principle, is
our country totalitarian?" he said.
According to some media reports, Abdurrahman also accused Eggy
Sudjana from the Center for Information and Development Studies
(CIDES), a research center under the Association of Indonesian
Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), of playing a role in the riots. He
expressed contempt against Adi Sasono, director of CIDES, and
challenged him to dispute his accusation.
Adi, a former activist with the Humaika Foundation -- a
humanitarian organization active in social services in the 1970s
-- refused to comment.
He told a press conference here yesterday he had consulted
with ICMI chairman B.J. Habibie regarding Abdurrahman's remarks
and was advised against making any response.
"Gus Dur is a Moslem leader. We should not taint our own face
by disputing such unclear allegations," Adi quoted Habibie as
saying.
Adi said Abdurrahman may have confused Humaika with Humanika.
Money
Abdurrahman said Tuesday the Humanika Foundation had given
money to NU youths in various cities to instigate riots.
"I know of all their meetings," he said. "Mimih Chaeruman and
other NU youths, recruited by Humanika to establish branches in
various cities, told me they were given money and facilities."
The authorities had accused Mimih and Galih F. Qurbany,
respectively secretary and chairman of the Garut branch of the
NU-affiliated Indonesian Moslem Student Movement (PMII), of
inciting the riots.
Abdurrahman said before the Tasikmalaya riot began, Mimi was
asked by an unidentified Humanika activist to go to a mosque to
lead a prayer. Here, a non-NU party had already gathered violent
hoodlums, Abdurrahman said.
"They (the hoodlums) were the ones who committed the violence.
Just because Mimih was the prayer leader and a member of PMII,
people think the NU was behind the riots," he said.
"Mimih was tricked. He agreed to go to the mosque because the
Humanika people wanted Mimih to calm the angry mob," he added.
Separately in Bandung, West Java, five activists from the PMII
and the Garut-based Student Forum appointed yesterday the
Nusantara Legal Aid Institute as lawyers to represent them during
questioning in connection with their alleged involvement in
Tasikmalaya riots.
Galih and Mahmud Yunus, both leaders of student organizations,
told reporters yesterday police summons had upset their life.
"One of our friends, Agus Tiana, has been kept in Hotel Abadi
since Jan. 8, along with military, police and prosecutor office's
personnel," Galih said. (08/35/ahy/amd/imn)
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