Police release activist Andi Arief

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)