Police submit scholar's case to prosecutors
Police submit scholar's case to prosecutors
JAKARTA (JP): The police have submitted the dossiers of George
Yunus Aditjondro to the Yogyakarta prosecutors' office although
the academic, accused of insulting the President, has applied to
live in Australia permanently.
"The court can start the trial. We have done our job,"
National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman Astrosemitro told
journalists here yesterday.
George now teaches Asian Studies at Murdoch University in
Perth. Earlier this week, the West Australian newspaper reported
that he wanted to reside permanently in Australia.
George, a lecturer at the Satya Wacana Christian University in
Salatiga, arrived in Perth as a visiting fellow at the university
in February. At the time he was under investigation by the
Yogyakarta police.
The West Australian reported that he alleges he could not
return to Indonesia for police questioning because the judicial
system in Indonesia is unjust and his case had been pre-
determined.
Authorities say that George, who is known to take a critical
stance on the government's policy on the troubled East Timor,
made slanderous remarks on Indonesia's economic and political
practices in a seminar in Yogyakarta last year.
Banurusman said that it is up to the Yogyakarta court to
decide whether it will seek to extradite George, who is also
known as a human rights campaigner.
His refusal to return to Indonesia and answer the charges has
provoked mixed reactions from all quarters. Legislators from the
ruling Golkar party have called him a "coward and hypocrite."
Sixty seven Australian academics have said in a petition filed
with the Indonesian government that the George case was a
"continuation of the intimidation leveled against him for his
investigative research on human rights violations and
environmental degradation in East Timor and Irian Jaya."
Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung said yesterday
that the George affair should not affect the relations between
Indonesia and Australia.
"The problem must not cause a row between Indonesia and
Australia," he told journalists before attending a monthly
cabinet ministerial meeting.
Consultation
Attorney General Singgih said he needs to consult with the
minister of foreign affairs to decide whether the government
would seek to extradite the scholar.
Indonesia and Australia have an extradition treaty.
Alatas, talking to journalists before attending the cabinet
meeting, said that at this level, it is the police who are
handling the George affair.
"We will see if we can use the (extradition) pact to extradite
him," he said.
In Salatiga, George's lawyer Budi Hartono said his client has
every right to seek a permanent resident status in Australia or
anywhere else he wishes.
"I can fully understand why he wants to reside permanently in
Australia with his family," said the lawyer form the Yogyakarta
branch of Indonesian Legal Aid institute.
He said George's refusal to return to Indonesia would make it
difficult for the police and the court to handle the case
because to extradite him would not be an easy job.
In a telephone interview with the Suara Merdeka newspaper in
Semarang on Tuesday, George said that although he want to stay
permanently in Australia, he would not change his citizenship.
"Please note that I have no intention of seeking political
asylum. I'll remain an Indonesian citizen and still love
Indonesia in my own way," he was quoted as saying. (bsr/har/pan)