Police to force activists to appear for questioning

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police plan to force four agrarian activists who claim to have been abducted by unidentified party last month for questioning, an officer said on Tuesday.

Spokesman Supt. M. Nur H. Usman said police had come to the conclusion since the activists had failed to meet a summons to come to Jakarta Police Headquarters for questioning on Tuesday.

"We'll wait until midnight (Tuesday). Should they fail to appear, we'll force them to come," officer Nur said.

He said police had already twice summoned the four activists -- Anton Sulton, Idham Kurniawan, Usep Setiawan and Muh. Hafiz Asdam.

The first letter was delivered to the four last Wednesday, asking them to come for questioning on Friday about their abduction, he said.

Since they failed to appear, the police then sent them a summons last Saturday, ordering them to come to police headquarters on Tuesday.

If the activists, aged between 23 and 28, still refused to meet the summons, the police will prepare everything, which might take up to a week, and force them to come, Nur said.

"If necessary, we'll go straight to their houses. We need direct contact," the spokesman said.

The four Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) activists went missing on Aug. 14 after staging a hunger strike at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and House of Representatives (DPR) compound during the Assembly's 12-day Annual Session. They returned home separately on Aug. 27.

After several days of refusing to meet the media, the four appeared before journalists last Friday and revealed their story in tears.

They said they had been abducted shortly after having dinner in Sogo shopping center in the heart of the capital.

After being kept for several days in small rooms in an area unknown by the activists, they were given airline tickets to Jakarta.

Head of the National Police information department Sr. Supt. Saleh Saaf said on Monday the police doubted the abduction of the four men, saying their story was a dagelan (comedy)

The abduction was aimed at smearing the police's image, he said, falling short of accusing the activists of manufacturing their own disappearances.

Officer Nur said the police's motive was not to prove their innocence in the abduction.

"Actually, even without a police investigation, the public already know that the police had nothing to do with the abduction," he said.

"It (the investigation) is meant to solve a crime," Nur said.

Separately, Saaf said that lawyers and relatives of the four activists visited National Police Headquarters on Tuesday.

The four KPA activists said recently that they were tired and depressed, and therefore refused to be questioned by police. (jaw/bsr)