Jakarta – A top Indonesian military officer has warned that encouraging people not to vote was against the law, following a recent statement by the Catholic Church which told its followers it was not a sin to refuse to vote in this year's general election.

The pre-Easter letter by the Indonesian Bishops' Conference headed by Cardinal Julius Darmaatmaja, read out in many Catholic churches last week, said that "Catholics should really feel free in expressing their attitude" in the general election.

"If you really do not feel represented and are sure with all your heart that your aspirations are not channelled, we can understand that you voice your responsibility and freedom by not voting, and you are not sinning if you do not vote," the statement said.

Lieutenant-General Syarwan Hamid, head of the armed forces' socio-political affairs division, when asked about the Church's statement, said that "to encourage people not to vote is against the law", according to the Republika daily on Monday.

Indonesia's three official parties – the United Development Party (PPP), the Indonesian Democracy Party (PDI) and the ruling Golkar party – will compete in the May 1997 election for 425 parliamentary seats. Golkar has won every election since 1971.

The Church's statement also said that "if you are under intense pressure" to vote, "you may follow those orders rather than suffer the consequences".