Anti-Government Activists Face Arrest in Indonesia

Responding to the most serious anti-government rioting seen here in more than two decades, authorities Wednesday pressed a nationwide crackdown on left-wing activists.

Muchtar Pakpahan, head of the Indonesian Labor Welfare Union, was arrested in connection with a government investigation into the People’s Democratic Party, a left-leaning umbrella group uniting student and labor activists, the independent Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation said. It said it had acquired a copy of the arrest warrant.

Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, head of the armed forces political division, told a news conference that an arrest warrant has been issued for Budiman Sudjatmiko, chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, which is accused of masterminding Saturday’s rioting that left at least three dead. Police are also looking for other members of the group.

“We have seized several documents that showed the plans of the People’s Democratic Party to create disorder and eventually topple the government,” Hamid said. An order has been issued to all regional military commands to shut down the party’s activities, he said.

Meanwhile, about 1,000 supporters of pro-democracy leader Megawati Sukarnoputri gathered outside a courthouse for a hearing today in which Megawati is seeking restoration to her post as chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party. After a 20-minute presentation by a Megawati attorney, the hearing was adjourned on the grounds that one of the judges had a toothache.

The case will now be taken up Aug. 22, court officials said.

The crowd dispersed without violence through an adjacent business area guarded by hundreds of helmeted riot police and soldiers armed with semiautomatic rifles.

Saturday’s rioting was sparked by the government’s use of force to oust Megawati’s supporters from the party’s headquarters after what she insists was her illegal removal as the party’s head.

Both Pakpahan and Sudjatmiko have supported Megawati in her activities as an opposition leader.

The government officially recognizes only one labor union and three political parties, including the Indonesian Democratic Party.

But other organizations also use “party” or “union” in their names and have been tolerated in recent years. A key issue now is how sweeping a crackdown authorities will carry out against organizations they view as anti-government.

“I think there will be more arrests . . . but we are not sure of this,” said Ridarson Galingging, a legal aid foundation official. “We believe that setting up an organization is the right of the people. It doesn’t need government approval.”

Sudjatmiko said in an interview published last week in Gatra magazine that the group is not Communist but believes in “people’s social democracy.”

American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson met with Pakpahan and appeared with him at a news conference here July 20.

Jackson used his visit to stress the need to improve labor conditions in poor countries. He also met Megawati and appeared at a news conference with her.

Pakpahan, 42, a labor lawyer, was sentenced to a three-year prison term in 1994 for inciting worker riots in Medan, northern Sumatra. The conviction was overturned in 1995, and he was acquitted of all charges by the Supreme Court.