Thu, 03 Feb 2000

President urged to reopen 1998 kidnap cases

JAKARTA (JP): Political activist Andi Arief demanded on Wednesday the reopening of a number of 1998 abduction cases on student activists, in which military representatives had admitted their involvement.

"At least 12 activists were kidnapped. The whereabouts of three of them, student activists Suyat, Bimo Petrus and Herman Hendrawan, are still unknown," Andi, who was abducted in southern Sumatra in March 1998 but found one month later in a Jakarta police cell, told reporters.

"I demand that President Abdurrahman Wahid, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri and National Police chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo, issue an order to reopen the reinvestigation of the kidnapping cases."

He said the police would now have in their hands a new witness to question, namely Central Java Police chief Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi, who is soon to be installed as the Jakarta Police chief.

"I am absolutely sure that Pak Nurfaizi knows the whereabouts of my three missing friends, since he was involved in the investigation process," Andi said.

"When I was found in the police cell and was investigated by my questioning officer, Lt. Col. (Kamaluddin) Lubis, Nurfaizi was the National Police chief of detectives."

Andi said he believed that Suyat, Bimo and Herman were still alive.

"If Pak Prabowo (former chief of the Army's Special Force -- Kopassus) then said that there were only nine activists who were kidnapped, he was lying. There are at least 12 missing."

Then Armed Forces spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif said in July, 1998 that the special forces members were involved in the kidnappings of Pius Lustrilanang, Desmond J. Mahesa, Haryanto Taslam, Andi Arief, Feisol Reza and Raharjo Waluyo Jati, and the detention of Nezar Patria, Aan Rusdiyanto and Mugiyanto.

All have been released, including Andi.

"I have spoken with my lawyer, Munir (from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence -- Kontras), and he will support me in this case. Nurfaizi can be a key witness, who was formerly never questioned," Andi said.

"If the President and Vice President refuse this, and do not open this case, then they are in their own way showing that they support the kidnappings. I just feel very responsible for the safety of my three friends, if they are still alive."

Andi, 29, the chairman of the Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy (SMID) which is a student wing of the outlawed Democratic People's Party (PRD), was taken by his family to his hometown of Lampung on July 15, 1998.

A graduate of Gadjah Mada University's School of Social and Political Sciences, Andi was abducted by an unidentified gang in Lampung on March 28, 1998.

Andi's father, M. Arief Mahya, said in April 1998 his son told him that after being abducted, he was taken by ferry from Bakauheni, Lampung, to Merak, West Java, and then to Jakarta.

He was subsequently taken to Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, and blindfolded. He was then driven for one and a half hours to an unknown destination and placed in a cell where he remained until being handed over to police on April 17, 1998.

Police maintain Andi was in their custody from March 29, 1998, the day after he disappeared, and was arrested for his alleged involvement in a bomb explosion at a low-cost apartment in Central Jakarta in January 1998. (ylt)