Officers involved in alleged subversion

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)