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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