Pressure mounts to prosecute soothsayer Permadi

Pressure mounts to prosecute soothsayer Permadi

JAKARTA (JP): The government came under renewed pressure from Moslem leaders and organizations yesterday to prosecute well- known mystic Permadi Satrio Wiwoho for remarks which, they say, insult Islam.

Two organizations sent separate delegations to the Attorney General's Office to convey their message to the government.

The groups -- Warga Jaya Indonesia and the Karya Communication Forum for Islamic Organizations -- staged a small demonstration outside the Attorney General's Office, waving placards denouncing Permadi.

"The death sentence is not enough" declared one poster.

"Permadi is a PKI henchman," read another, in reference to the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party.

One placard announced: "Islam will chase after you all the way to your grave." Another stated: "Islam is My Religion, Muhammad is my Prophet, Soeharto is My Leader and Permadi is My Enemy."

Permadi has been under police protection since Sunday, after he received death threats.

He has been accused of saying that the Prophet Muhammad was a dictator. The alleged remarks are said to have been made during an academic seminar at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta last April. Permadi has denied the allegations, saying that his remarks have been quoted out of context and manipulated.

However, in the face of increasing Moslem anger, he turned himself in to the authorities on Sunday. He was initially held at the Attorney General's Office but was moved to National Police headquarters building on Monday.

Deputy chief of the National Police, Maj. Gen. Koesparmono Irsan, said police were still questioning Permadi in connection with the allegedly sacrilegious remarks.

Koesparmono said yesterday that Permadi was now under police arrest. His status was that of a suspect, he added.

Koesparmono said the investigation had been expanded and police were already questioning a number of potential witnesses whom he declined to name.

Human rights lawyer, Adnan Buyung Nasution, who was present at the Yogyakarta seminar, has earlier come to Permadi's defense, saying that the remarks have been manipulated by the mystic's critics.

Former Home Minister Rudini, who was among the speakers at the seminar, has said he cannot recall hearing Permadi make the alleged remarks but has added that he was not present for the question-and-answer session which followed the speeches.

Officials said on Monday that the controversial mystic is likely to be charged under article 156a of the Criminal Code, which prohibits blasphemy. If convicted, Permadi will face up to five years imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the influential Council of Indonesian Ulemas, Hasan Basri, said yesterday that Permadi's statement about the Prophet Muhammad was even more blasphemous than the "sin" committed by Arswendo Atmowiloto, the former editor of the banned Monitor tabloid, five years ago.

"Permadi made a bigger mistake than Arswendo," Hasan told reporters after attending a post-Ramadhan gathering with President Soeharto at the Merdeka Palace.

Arswendo was convicted of blasphemy by a Jakarta court in 1991 for publishing a popularity poll in his magazine which put the Prophet Muhammad in 11th place, below President Soeharto, the singer Iwan Fals and Arswendo himself.

He was given the maximum five-year sentence but was released in August 1993 after earning a series of remissions for good behavior.

Hasan denied that the council waited a long time before making the current allegations of blasphemy. "The seminar at Gadjah Mada was closed to the press and (Permadi's comments) have only been revealed recently," he said.

The allegations were made last week, after Permadi became the subject of a government investigation for allegedly predicting, in January, that 1995 might witness political unrest in Indonesia. The military claimed that Permadi had also insulted the government, the military and President Soeharto.

Nothing came of the investigation, however.

Last Saturday, Din Syamsuddin, a scholar who is a member of the ruling political group, Golkar, said that he had a tape recording of Permadi denigrating Islam at the Gadjah Mada seminar. Din's claim sparked a sudden outbreak of Moslem anger towards Permadi. (imn/bsr)