Political activist Pius to return home tomorrow

JAKARTA (JP): Political activist Pius Lustrilanang, the first to go public with an account of the abductions of activists, is to return to Indonesia tomorrow, his lawyer said yesterday.

Pius will arrive at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on a Garuda flight from Amsterdam at 1:55 p.m., Johnson Panjaitan of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said.

Johnson said that Pius, 30, was determined to come home after completing his campaign to attract international sympathy for the plight of Indonesian activists. He has toured several countries in Europe, the United States and Japan.

He said a number of prodemocracy activists would meet Pius at the airport.

Pius, secretary-general of SIAGA -- a loose association of supporters of opposition figures Megawati Soekarnoputri and Amien Rais -- left for the Netherlands only hours after giving an account of his ordeal to the National Commission on Human Rights on April 27.

He said that he had been abducted at gunpoint on Feb. 4 and detained for questioning until April 3 during which time he claimed he was tortured by his kidnapers.

On Tuesday, the military announced that five of the Army's special force (Kopassus) had been detained and two others were under intensive investigation for their alleged involvement in the abduction of the activists.

Pius left the country immediately after giving his account of his ordeal because he felt insecure in Indonesia, despite assurances from senior military officers. He claimed his abductors had threatened to harm him and his relatives if he dared to speak up.

Panjaitan said that another activist, Pipit R. Kartawidjaja, returned to Indonesia from Germany yesterday after the government gave him back his passport recently.

The Indonesian Consulate General's office in Berlin revoked Pipit's passport in 1987 due to his active campaigns against former president Soeharto and alleged human rights violations in Indonesia. One case he exploited was the imprisonment of former legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas. Bintang was released by President B.J. Habibie several days after Soeharto resigned on May 21.

Panjaitan said the consulate-general's office returned Pipit's passport following pressure from PBHI on the foreign affairs ministry. (byg)