Kupang - Head of an advocacy team for a legal aid organization, Yohanes Yacob, did not design the attack on the Solidamor office that was carried out by a delegation of East Timor refugees (DPTT) two weeks ago.

Yohanes Yacob's denial was issued through a statement sent to ST at the end of last week, responding to a statement made by UNTAS and former Vice Head of PPI that was issued earlier.

According to Yakob, if viewed in terms of the law, the attack on the Solidamor office was clearly illegal because there was damage and beatings by the refugees. However, DPTT had a logical solution because it is as if this republic allows a country within a country. What more, DPTT feels Solidamor is a provocative organization that has ruined actively free political values including destruction of the source of Indonesia's economic order. Also, the love of Solidamor activists is totally polluted.

Concerning the problem of his name being mentioned as the mover behind DPTT's attack on the Solidamor office, Yacob said that matter was very ticklish. "I remind the person who mentioned my name in regard to that attack. As Secretary General of the Informal Institute for Indonesian People's Training (LIPMI) that has or oversees 153 social organizations throughout Indonesia with a strength of more than 3 million members, if I want to destroy Solidamor, I don't need to use the strength of DPTT, my 500,000 members who live in Jakarta are enough. That doesn't include sympathizers," wrote Yakob.

This former Soeharto lawyer explained that while in Jakarta, the DPTT program had been sent to various groups, including to the office of the LPBHN Kedsindo Advocacy Team. As DPTT's legal authority, KPBHN Kedsindo was limited to the legal arena and [had nothing to do with] the political unit. He gave as an example, if a DPTT member was to be processed according to law, then LPBHN Kedsindo as an advocacy organization would give legal services in accordance with the ethical codes of advocacy and the oath of office.

According to Yacob, the existence and role of Solidamor has political interests that play a role in destroying its own nation. He further questioned the presence of Solidamor Director, Bonar Tigor Naipospos who is currently in Dili. Because, according to Yacob, if he wants to demand justice, he doesn't need to go to Dili because in Indonesia there is also an institution that regulates such matters.

Concerning the UNTAS statement that DPTT still uses an old pattern, Yacob said they may be using an old pattern but at least DPTT members had proved they were ready to sacrifice their lives for their country as compared to continually holding meetings to point the finger at each other with using Pancasila and the 1945 constitution as a shield.

Solidamor Director, Bonar Tigor Naipospos, who was contacted via handy phone, responded to Yakob's accusation that Solidamor is a provocateur said that Yohanes Yakob knows nothing about Solidamor because Yakob is nothing more than a tool that turns here and there. According to Bonar, the name of the organization is certainly Solidamor, but the mission and vision of its struggle is not just for East Timor but also for Indonesia in relation to efforts to uphold democracy and Indonesia's image outside the country.

For example, Solidamor greatly cares about the arbitrary arrests of democracy activists during Suharto's regime. Concerning Yakob's accusation that Solidamor is also an organization that has ruined the actively free political values of Indonesia, Bonar thinks Yakob as a hired person wants to take advantage of the Indonesian nation.

Solidamor is precisely the opposite and wants to fix Indonesia's image in the eyes of the international world. It has never sought to ruin the Indonesian nation in any way.

Concerning Yakob's accusation that Solidamor only uses Pancasila and the 1945 constitution as a shield in its daily organizational activities, Bonar said he understood Pancasila and the constitution better than Yakob.