In an October 1965 coup, the army took power after alleging that the assassination of several senior generals was masterminded by the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). The transition to Suharto's New Order followed, and Pramoedya's position as the head of People's Cultural Organisation, a literary group with connections to the PKI, caused him to be considered a communist and enemy of the "New Order" regime. During the violent anti-Communist purge, he was arrested, beaten, and imprisoned by Suharto's government and named a "tapol" ("political prisoner"). His books were banned from circulation, and he was imprisoned without trial, first in Nusa Kambangan off the southern coast of Java, and then in the penal colony of Buru in the eastern islands of the Indonesian archipelago.