Sixty arrested in E. Java for alleged subversion

Sixty arrested in E. Java for alleged subversion

SURABAYA (JP): At least 60 people suspected of subversive
activities were arrested Thursday in the towns of Malang and
Kediri, East Java Police Chief Maj. Gen. M. Dayat said yesterday.

The group was led by Imam Mahdi Prawironegoro alias Imam
Syafi'i, 68, and included three Armed Forces deserters, Dayat
said. It also included a Malaysian identified only as Salim.

Accompanied by Chief of Brawijaya Regional Military Command
Maj. Gen. Djadja Suparman, Dayat said the members of the group
came from areas such as Jakarta and Bekasi. Some of them were
arrested in the group's headquarters at a house on Jl. Simpang
Borobudur, Malang, while Imam Mahdi and his other followers were
apprehended at the Merdeka Hotel in Kediri.

The headquarters included a one-hectare plot suspected of
being a location where the group conducted military training.

The suspects, some of whom were wearing military fatigues when
arrested, are now in Malang Police custody.

"We are still collecting evidence that the group had been
given military training ... we're still investigating their
weaponry," Dayat said.

Imam Mahdi reportedly claimed to be the reincarnation of the
first president Sukarno. He had reportedly given speeches in many
areas where he appeared in white apparel and the traditional peci
cap, which resembled that of Sukarno.

Dayat said the authorities were still determining what laws
the group was to be charged under. "We cannot yet make a
conclusion. But if there's any indication of mass mobilization
and military training, we'll study ... (it as an) indication of
subversion," he said.

Djadja Suparman said the deserting soldiers were being
detained in the military police headquarters here and were being
intensively interrogated.

He said the authorities had been suspicious of the group's
allegedly subversive activities since July but had to refrain
from making prompt arrests because they had to collect evidence.
(nur/09)