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)