Police release activist Andi Arief

JAKARTA (JP): Student activist Andi Arief, who was abducted in southern Sumatra in March but found one month later in a Jakarta police cell, was released by police Tuesday night.

Munir from the Commission of Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), who handled Andi's release, said tough negotiations were involved.

"We were in a tug-of-war for two weeks," Munir told journalists at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation office in Central Jakarta yesterday.

Munir said Andi, 27, the chairman of the Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy (SMID) which is a student wing of the outlawed People's Democratic Party (PRD), was taken by his family to his hometown of Lampung yesterday morning.

Munir said Andi was in good health but he and his family requested time alone to recover from the psychological stress of the ordeal.

"Although during the detention he felt no physical pressure, he felt threatened by the fact that he could be taken by his abductors at anytime," Munir said.

Andi, a graduate of Gadjah Mada University's School of Social and Political Sciences, was abducted by an unidentified gang in Lampung on March 28.

Andi's father, M. Arief Mahya, said in April his son told him that after being abducted he was taken by ferry from Bakaheuni, Lampung, to Merak, West Java, and then overland to Jakarta.

He was subsequently taken to Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, and blindfolded. He was then driven for one and a half hours to an unknown destination and placed in a cell where he remained until being handed over to police on April 17.

Police maintain Andi was in their custody from March 29, a day after he disappeared, and was arrested for his alleged involvement in a bomb explosion at a low-cost apartment in Central Jakarta in January.

Munir said that earlier yesterday he met the National Military Chief Maj. Gen. Syamsu Djalal and requested a security guarantee for Andi.

"The National Military Police has agreed and during the meeting Syamsu directly contacted the Lampung military command and local military police to notify them to give special attention to Andi's safety," Munir said.

Munir said Andi also confirmed that members of the Army's special force were involved in the abductions.

The military police said Tuesday they had detained five officers of the Army's special force in connection with a series of abductions of political activists over the past year and are preparing dossiers for their court-martial.

Two other special force members are under intensive investigation. (byg)