George Junus Aditjondro

George Junus Aditjondro (born 27 May 1946 in Pekalongan, Central Java) is a sociologist from Indonesia.

In 1994 and 1995 Aditjondro became widely known as a critic of the Suharto government, especially around cases of political corruption and East Timor. He argues that during the New Order Indonesia became an oligarchy, and that this form of political and economic organization shill characterizes the nation. He had to leave Indonesia for Australia between 1995 and 2002, and was banned by the Suharto regime in March, 1998. In Australia he taught sociology at the University of Newcastle.

Upon arrival back in Indonesia, the unemployed Aditjondro had been writing critics on Indonesian government. He wrote a book "Gurita Cikeas" based on rumors heard without making his own research. As a result, he was criticized by one of the guests, Mr Ramadhan Pohan during the book launching ceremony. The emotional Aditjondro then punched Mr Pohan in the face. Mr Adijondro was charged for the assault.

On November 30th 2011, Mr Aditjondro insulted the Yogyakarta Palace (Keraton) at a public discussion with a theme of "Studying the Sultan Ground/Pakualaman Ground under the Yogyakarta Special Region Status" at the Auditorium of the Faculty of Agriculture of the Yogyakarta-based state University of Gajahmada. George Junus Aditjondro was named suspect on Thursday after being questioned for four hours by the police in connection with his recent derogatory statement on the Yogyakarta Sultanate. "After questioning him for four hours from 9am to 1pm we found strong evidence that he had committed libel," the director of crime investigation of the Yogyakarta Police Command, Senior Commissioner Kris Erlangga said."We did not arrest him because he is only facing less than five years in prison. But he is banned from travelling abroad," he said.

He said the police would immediately complete the dossiers for immediate submission to the prosecutor`s office for the further process of the case.

The Yogyakarta Community Forum (FMY) came to the Yogyakarta Police Command on December 1, 2010 to report George Junus Aditjondro they considered having insulted the Yogyakarta Palace by stating "it cannot be equalized with the British Kingdom because the Yogyakarta Palace is a mere "Keraton" (palace) meaning "kera ditonton" (a monkey to see).

External links

• "Chopping the global tentacles of the Suharto Oligarchy," Dr. George J. Aditjondro.
• Suharto & Sons (And Daughters, In-Laws & Cronies), George J. Aditjondro, The Washington Post, Sunday, January 25, 1998; Page C01.
• (Indonesian) "George Aditjondro: Betah Meneliti Korupsi", KOMPAS, 15 April 2006
• (Indonesian) "Aditjondro Gugat Kedubes Thailand", Detikcom, 12 November 2006
• George Junus Aditjondro: Standing by the Marginalized, by Alpha Amirrachman, The Jakarta Post, January 9, 2007