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)