50 political convicts to be released: Muladi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie will soon release up to
\n50 political prisoners or detainees, including East Timorese and
\nAcehnese activists, Minister of Justice Muladi said on Monday.<\/p>\n
In a presidential decree, the President will grant amnesty to
\nprisoners and drop charges against detainees. Muladi was quick to
\npoint out that the President would not include jailed East
\nTimorese Jose Alexandre \"Xanana\" Gusmao, despite international
\npressures.<\/p>\n
\"Xanana is included in the process of East Timor settlement
\nnegotiations, which we hope can be solved too,\" Muladi said after
\nmeeting with Habibie at Merdeka Palace.<\/p>\n
When asked about the precise date of the amnesty, Muladi only
\nreplied, \"I hope it will be issued during this Ramadhan fasting
\nmonth.\"<\/p>\n
The President released at least 68 prisoners only two months
\nafter replacing Soeharto in May, including labor activist Muchtar
\nPakpahan and Sri Bintang Pamungkas.<\/p>\n
Muladi said in June that at least 150 political prisoners were
\nstill behind bars.<\/p>\n
Amnesty International said in its report earlier this month
\nthat the government had failed to fulfill its pledges on human
\nrights and democracy, and was resorting to the repressive
\nmeasures used by former president Soeharto's regime.<\/p>\n
Amnesty said Habibie had come to power in May 1998 with a high
\nprofile agenda for political and human rights reform which had
\ndelivered early positive results, including the release of 120
\npolitical prisoners.<\/p>\n
\"Six months later, the Indonesian government appears to have
\nlost sight of its commitments to respect human rights and for
\ngreater transparency and political participation,\" the report
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Several human rights organizations have criticized the
\ngovernment for failing to release Muslim political prisoners and
\nthe leaders of the outlawed People's Democratic Party.<\/p>\n
\"Those who will receive amnesty will include members of the
\nAceh security disturbance movement, and several of them will also
\nhave their names cleared,\" Muladi said. (prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/50-political-convicts-to-be-released-muladi-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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