Political activist Pius to return home tomorrow
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)