Rallies to protest Akbar's arrest continue in regions

Rallies to protest Akbar's arrest continue in regions

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

About 300 Golkar Party (The Functional Group) demonstrators
staged a rally on Friday in Manado, North Sulawesi demanding that
the Attorney General's Office free Golkar Chairman Akbar Tandjung
from incarceration.

Conducting their rally before the provincial prosecutor's
office in Manado (about 1,300 kilometers east of Jakarta), they
claimed that his detention was more political than legal.

"We'll fight against whoever is trying to politicize his
(Akbar's) detention," said the executive chairman of Golkar in
North Sulawesi, Joost Th. Patty, who was accompanied by the
party's provincial secretary, Victor Maylangkay.

He said there was no need to detain Akbar, who was also the
speaker of the House of Representatives, if it was intended for
questioning him. "We can guarantee that Akbar Tandjung won't run
away or destroy evidence during his questioning," he claimed,
although it was made clear how he could issue such a guarantee.

North Sulawesi's Golkar Chairman A.J. Sondakh, who is also the
governor of the province, could not attend the rally as he had to
accompany Labor Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea, who was visiting the
province.

Patty said that North Sulawesi Golkar asked the Attorney
General's Office to expedite the investigation and bring Akbar's
case to court by next week at the latest.

"If it fails to do so then it'll strengthen our suspicion that
the Attorney General does not have enough evidence and that the
case was politicized," he said, adding the Golkar in North
Sulawesi would continue to recognize Akbar as the party chairman.

In Medan, North Sumatra, the province's Golkar members also
asked the Attorney General's Office on Friday to free Akbar from
detention.

Around 800 members of a group calling itself the Indonesian
Young Generation (AMPI), which is affiliated with the Golkar
party, also staged a rally on Friday to protest his
incarceration.

They demanded that the Attorney General's Office refrain from
becoming politicized by other parties and only focus on the law.

The North Sumatra Legislative Council's Golkar Faction
Secretary Syahrul M. Pasaribu said that the jailing of Akbar was
not consistent with the Criminal Code article 20, which states
that a suspect can only be detained if he is suspected to; be a
flight risk, destroy evidence or repeat their crimes.

He argued that during his questioning, Akbar was very
cooperative and complied with the legal procedure.

Meanwhile in Makassar, South Sulawesi, the provincial Golkar
members reacted coolly to the detention.

"Let the legal procedure proceed. But we hope that Akbar's
detention is not linked to the Golkar institution. He is our
chairman, but in Buloggate II, Akbar was not in his role as a
chairman of Golkar. So this case has no relation to Golkar,"
South Sulawesi's Provincial Golkar Chairman, Amin Syam told The
Jakarta Post.

Legal analysts have speculated that the Bulog money may have
been used for Golkar election activities in 1999.

Amin added that at this point, his branch did not think there
was an urgent need to convene a meeting to discuss a plan to
replace Akbar as chairman, because he was only in jail and had
not yet been found guilty.

"We still support him as Golkar chairman," he said, adding
that the jailing of their party chairman in a corruption scam had
not tarnished the party's image.

"The public has been critical. But they can distinguish
between Akbar as Golkar chairman and Akbar as a person. We don't
worry about public opinion," he claimed, adding that the Attorney
General should continue to follow the law.

But he warned that nobody should exploit the case to ruin
Golkar's image. "We'll fight against whoever tries to do so," he
said.

Meanwhile, dozens of the Alliance of Indonesian Students
(Alfonso) in Makassar, held a demonstration to protest Akbar's
arrest.

Alfonso's spokesman Ato A. Suharto said that there was no need
to detain Akbar before judges issued their verdict in court, and
his case should not be politicized.