Phone tapping report leads to uproar

JAKARTA (JP): An uproar has ensued following reports of the tapping of a purported telephone conversation between President B.J. Habibie and Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib as observers expressed concern over what they said was a crude political ploy.

Meanwhile others urged the public and the government to focus on the investigation of former president Soeharto.

Substance aside, politician Sarwono Kusumaatmadja lashed out on Friday at "an unethical political ploy."

It would be detrimental to the institution of government, both now and in the future, as it would be the government that the public would perceive as the institution most capable of doing such a thing, he argued.

H.S. Dillon, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, said that if the transcript was real it was really a blatant abuse of the presidential power to eliminate political opponents before the upcoming election.

"It is an egregious abuse of the state power against citizens who are promoting democracy," Dillon added in referring to the portion of the transcript purportedly relating to the investigation of Arifin Panigoro and Sofyan Wanandi.

Violence

"The revelation of the transcript, if true, makes us greatly apprehensive that there is to be more violence in the run-up to the June 7 election, and that the polls might be degraded largely by money politics," he said.

Sarwono told the media that such a political ploy was "playing with fire" because it would be never ending.

"It, the phone tapping, is no news really... it used to be used against pro-democracy activists of non-governmental organizations... now it's being used against the President.

"As a technology wizard, Habibie should have known better how communications technology might be used in politics," Sarwono said.

According to the former environment minister, the country needed a special law with effective implementation to regulate phonetapping.

"For instance, it should be legalized by the courts and should be carried out by authoritative state bodies whose affairs should be held accountable," he said.

Otherwise, it would not only have impact on the government's credibility but also would ruin the country's entire economy as business players, for fear of being found out, would lose trust.

Ethical issue

Sarwono declined to comment on the substance of the tapped conversation, saying: "This is an ethical issue... no unethical political play should mar a legal political power play".

The controversial taped conversation was published in the latest edition of Panji Masyarakat weekly, but actually also saw publication in January in a lesser known paper, the BK tabloid.

Voices sounding like Habibie's and Ghalib's indicated that they were discussing the progress of investigations into "Jusuf Wanandi" and oil tycoon Arifin Panigoro, two staunch critics of the President. Businessman Sofyan Wanandi, not Jusuf, has been implicated in a bank-related case.

They discussed arrangements which Ghalib had made for the Dec. 9 investigation of former president Soeharto -- whom both men reverently referred to as Bapak (father).

The published transcript suggested that they concurred that the investigation should continue rather than allowing him to be tried by a "people's court".

Amien Rais, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said the alleged conversation showed that there was currently a coherent political strategy to protect Soeharto.

"The substance we can determine from the conversation is that the inquiries into Soeharto are aimed only at pacifying the angry people who are demanding Soeharto's trial," he said in Yogyakarta.

Rivals

He said the case was similar to the tapping by former U.S. president Richard Nixon in 1970s of his political rivals. "The difference in Habibie's case is that the tapping was carried out by his political rivals," he said.

Ichlasul Amal, rector of the University of Gadjah Mada suggested the target in the disclosure of the tapping was Habibie's group because of the impression that his government was not serious in its investigation of Soeharto.

"The tapping was disclosed to weaken Habibie's position and to damage his public image," he said.

Criminologist Mulyana W. Kusumah said that if seen from the legal point of view the tapping was against the 1964 telecommunications law and the culprit could be punished according to the law.

"If the tapping is seen to have leaked state secrets, the agent is liable to the death sentence. But if it is seen only as an ordinary crime, the agent will be punished lightly," he said.

He insisted that it was very difficult to arrest the tapping agent because a telephone conversation could be tapped both outside the presidential office and the Attorney General's Office. (aan/rms/vin/23)