BIN has become "political player": nat`l rights watchdog

"BIN is no longer an intelligence gathering organization but has become a political player," National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) member Jhony Nelson Simandjuntak said here Monday.

He made the statement after receiving a deputation of the Awaken Indonesia Committee (KBI) which had reported the arrest of KBI Secretary General Ferry Yuliantono whom BIN chief Syamsir Siregar had publicly accused of being the "mastermind" of the violence-marred protests against the government`s fuel oil pricing policy in Jakarta last June 24.

Simanjuntak questioned the legal basis of Yuliantono`s arrest saying it appeared to have been made merely because of a "difference of opinion."

"Differing in opinion is something normal. Why must the activist be taken in for it. That is the question," he said.

The KBI delegation had lodged a complaint with the commission on the police`s action in arresting Yuliantono and a number of other activists over the recent street rallies against the fuel oil price hikes.

The complaint was submitted ...