Three military forces involved in abductions: Andi

JAKARTA (JP): Political activist Andi Arief alleged yesterday that at least two other military institutions besides the Army's special force (Kopassus) were involved in the abductions of activists earlier this year.

He, however, refused to name the two bodies until after the 14 other activists still missing return. Andi himself was released by the city police last week.

The Armed Forces (ABRI), in a shocking revelation, said last week that several Kopassus members were involved in the abductions of political activists during the regime of former president Soeharto.

So far, 10 Kopassus members have been questioned and the military police are preparing to take them to court.

In a media briefing at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation in Central Jakarta yesterday, Andi said he refused to be questioned over his abduction by military investigators before they found the remaining missing activists.

"I consider the three previous questionings during my detention in police custody as sufficient (for the military investigation team) to find my (missing) friends," Andi, 27, said.

He did not give details of the previous interrogations.

Andi, the chairman of the Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy, which is a student wing of the outlawed People's Democratic Party, said he believed the military already knew the whereabouts of the 14 missing activists due to the extensive information given by him and others who have reappeared since being abducted.

Moreover, Andi said, the military had already identified suspects in the abductions.

"Whatever their (the missing activists) conditions are, dead or physically wounded, they have to be released," Andi said.

Among the activists who are still missing are Suyat, a student of Sebelas Maret University in Surakarta, Central Java and Driyarkara School of Philosophy student Bimo Petrus Anugrah.

Suyat went missing in February in Surakarta, while Bimo vanished in Jakarta last March.

Andi, a graduate of Gadjah Mada University's School of Social and Political Sciences, also said the abductions were systematically organized rather than mere "procedural violations" as the military had said they were.

"I was abducted, interrogated and handed over to the police by different units, so it is clear that this was not a procedural error at all," Andi said.

Andi therefore said that the investigators should summon the police officer, Lt. Col. Lubis, who received him from his abductors.

Andi was abducted by an unidentified gang in Lampung on March 28. He said that after being abducted he was taken by ferry from Bakauheni port to Merak port, and then overland to Jakarta.

After arriving in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, Andi was blindfolded.

He was then driven for one and a half hours to an unknown destination and placed in a cell where he remained until being handed over to police on April 17.

Police, however, maintain that Andi was in their custody from March 29, a day after he disappeared, and was arrested for his alleged involvement in a bomb explosion at a low-cost apartment in Central Jakarta in January.

"What was said by Nurfaizi was a total lie, I was only asked to sign the arrest warrant dated March 29 on April 17," Andi said referring to then police detective unit commander Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi, who is now the Central Java Police chief. (byg)