University sacks govt critic Arief Budiman

University sacks govt critic Arief Budiman

SALATIGA, Central Java (JP): Arief Budiman, lecturer at the
Christian University of Satya Wacana and an outspoken government
critic, has been sacked from the school after a prolonged
conflict with the rector.

Arief, holder of a doctorate degree in sociology from Harvard
University, U.S.A., was fired dishonorably, the chairman of the
Satya Wacana Foundation announced here Monday. Arief received
the decision, which took effect as of Oct. 17, at his home here
on the same day.

Asked about his dismissal, Arief told The Jakarta Post Monday
evening that "the decision means that it is the foundation that
needs sympathy."

A statement issued by the foundation here on Monday said that
the decision was made after Arief had refused to comply with a
number of warnings given to him by the foundation since 1988.
The foundation asked him to show his respect for the university's
and the foundation's dignity.

However, the statement said, after the final warning in March
this year, Arief still wrote a misleading article about an
internal campus problem in a Jakarta daily newspaper, the
statement said.

According to the statement, the article was based on
inaccurate data and contained a secret decision made by the Satya
Wacana rector.

The conflict between Arief and the university reached a climax
last year when he denounced the election of the new rector, John
JOI Ihalauw, which he said was rigged.

His rejection was supported by some 10 senior lecturers, who
accused Ihalauw of being "immoral and too business-oriented."

Arief also told the Post that he had been thinking about
leaving the university for a long time but some clergymen had
persuaded him to stay and resolve the conflict.

"Now that I have been sacked I will leave Satya Wacana without
any burden," he said.

Yesterday, dozens of lecturers and students demonstrated their
opposition to Arief's dismissal.

The banner-waving protesters accused the rector and foundation
officials of being "undemocratic and suppressing openness on the
campus with an iron hand."

"The decision (to sack Arief) was the most authoritarian in
the university's history. We deplore it," said Otto Adi Yulianto,
one of the protesting students.

Condemnation also came from post graduate students. They said
Arief's dismissal plunged the future of their studies into
uncertainty because he supervises the thesis writing of many
students.(01/har/tis)