Jakarta – A coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), grouped under the Ornop Coalition, urged police on Wednesday to take stern action against members of a hard-line Muslim group who had committed acts of theft and vandalism in connection with the raid on an international conference in Sawangan, West Java, last week.
Indonesian Environment Forum (Walhi) executive director Emmy Hadfild said after meeting National Police Chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro, harsh measures should be taken against members of Angkatan Kabah Muda (AKM). "AKM members committed acts of vandalism and they confiscated cassettes, cameras and documents at the Depok conference. They were armed with sticks and machetes and this is just not acceptable," Emmy said.
AKM is an anticommunist group affiliated with the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP). The attack is believed to be part of an ongoing campaign against Democratic People's Party (PRD) chairman Budiman Soedjatmito, who the group says is a communist.
Emmy added that the Ornop Coalition were scheduled to meet with legislators of the United Development Party (PPP) faction on Thursday to discuss the same matter. She also said that, after the meeting with the police chief, activists had got the impression that Friday's police raid in Sawangan was aimed at arresting Budiman.
Police have previously admitted to targeting Budiman and have repeatedly threatened to arrest him. They believe that he plans to cause disturbances in the capital which will disrupt the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) special session scheduled for August.
"There are several allegations which police have leveled against Budiman ... police were suspicious about why the conference was private and whether Budiman spoke during the conference. "The police seem to be targeting Budiman for some reason. Unfortunately, 32 foreigners got caught up in the mess ... they were not at fault at all," Emmy said.
Police raided the Asia Pacific Labor Solidarity Conference on Neoliberalism in the Sawangan Golf Inn on Friday Jun. 8 and arrested 40 participants; eight Indonesians and 32 foreigners. The foreigners were questioned for alleged visa violations and held in custody for one night. Immigration authorities, however, declared that, with the exception of one Pakistani, none of the foreigners had violated any laws.
Newly installed National Police deputy spokesman Sr. Comr. Edward Aritonang said separately on Wednesday that police would provisionally consider that the attacks carried out by AKM members were conducted independent of the organization. "However, we are investigating the case, including the possibility of the alleged involvement of PPP in the attack," Edward said.
Malaysia
The Sawangan incident has apparently discouraged other foreigners from participating in seminars in the country. Two botanists from Universitas Kebangsaan Malaysia have canceled their plans to speak at a seminar on rare plants, which is scheduled to take place here on Saturday in Bogor.
Ervisal AM Zuhud, a member of the organizing committee, said on Wednesday that Prof. Abdul Latif and Dr. Kamaruddin Mat Saleh canceled their trips to Indonesia following the Malaysian government's warning about security conditions in the country, Antara reported.
He said that the two experts may have been alarmed by media reports about Indonesia's political situation. "Maybe also because of reports about the police's raid of the international conference in Sawangan," said Ervisal, who is head of the Plants Conservation Laboratory at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture.
He regretted their cancellations, saying that the two botanists, experts in Rafflesia, were expected to be keynote speakers at the seminar. The one-day seminar, organized by the Rafflesia Foundation in cooperation with the Bogor Botanical Garden and the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, is aimed at conserving the Raflesia, which is on the brink of extinction.
Ervisal said that the organizing committee hoped that the two experts would still come to the seminar so that they could later inform the Malaysian government that Indonesia, especially Bogor, is a safe place. "We have sent them an e-mail explaining the situation in Indonesia, especially Bogor. We even told them that we will collect them from the Soekarno-Hatta international airport," he said.