Officers involved in alleged subversion
JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) have confirmed that three military personnel have been involved in alleged subversive activities in the East Java towns of Malang and Kediri.
Armed Forces Spokesman Brig. Gen. A. Wahab Mokodongan said three ABRI members were involved in organizing illegal military exercises in a house in the Malang regency.
"One of them was a middle-ranking ABRI officer and the two others were sergeant-majors," Wahab told journalists.
At least 60 people, including the three ABRI members, suspected of subversive activities were arrested in Malang and Kediri Thursday.
The civilians are being detained by Malang Police, while the three military personnel are under intensive interrogation at the local military police headquarters.
They were allegedly part of a group of about 100 sympathizers of Imam Mahdi Prawironegoro alias Imam Syafi'i.
Imam Mahdi, 68, reportedly claims to be the reincarnation of the first president Sukarno.
He has reportedly given speeches in many areas appearing in a white outfit and a traditional peci cap, clothes often worn by Sukarno.
The military personnel were actively involved in illegal military exercises and closed-door nightly meetings at the groups' headquarters, on Jl. Simpang Borobudur, Blimbing subdistrict, Malang.
East Java police have claimed that a senior figure in the group was a Malaysian, identified only as Salim.
Salim is believed to have acted as a "broker" for the group to find foreign donors willing to finance its activities. He is still at large.
Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung said Saturday that Armed Forces Headquarters was now investigating the extent of the three soldiers' involvement.
"We'll press charges against them if the allegations are true," he said.
The chief of the Brawijaya Regional Military Command, which oversees East Java, Maj. Gen. Djadja Suparman, said Friday the three ABRI members were deserters.
Commenting on the apparent fall from grace of the military personnel, Armed Forces Chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Tarub said Saturday that everybody was human and thus liable to make a mistake.
"ABRI members are also human beings, who could be influenced by other people," he said.
Tarub diminished the impact of their involvement as insignificant since the group was small.
East Java Police Commander Maj. Gen. M. Dayat said Friday that most members of the group came from Jakarta and Bekasi.
Some were arrested in the group's headquarters, while Imam Mahdi and his other followers were apprehended at the Merdeka Hotel in Kediri.
Police investigators have so far seized four motorcycles, two cars and one jeep, and a collection of military weapons and equipment, including bayonets, army belts and combat uniforms, as material evidence.
Djadja Suparman said the authorities had been suspicious of the group's allegedly subversive activities since July but had to refrain from making prompt arrests because they lacked evidence.
Neither the police nor the military have stipulated what laws the group has been charged with breaking. (imn)