Police to force activists to appear for questioning

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)