Former political prisoners still haunted by past<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan<\/p>\n
Forty years after the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was
\naccused of masterminding the bloody attempted coup on Sept. 30,
\n1965, political prisoners associated with the movement still bear
\nscars of incarceration and persecution.<\/p>\n
In Medan, former political prisoner Edi Sartimin has lived a
\nlonely life for 27 years after his wife and only child left him
\nbecause they could not stand living in the shadow of his past.<\/p>\n
But the 69-year-old man has kept busy, throwing himself into
\nwork with non-governmental organizations as a photographer.<\/p>\n
Modestly, Edi said he was not skilled at photography but had
\ntaken up the job for something to do.<\/p>\n
"I was formerly a soldier with no skills as a photographer but
\nbecause I am now on my own, I learned to become (one)," said Edi,
\nwho lives at the North Sumatra Community Legal Aid office in
\nMedan.<\/p>\n
The former chief corporal said he joined the Indonesian
\nMilitary in 1957 in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra. He was
\narrested in September 1967 and accused of being a rebel who
\nplanned to escape and join fighters in North Kalimantan, a
\nmovement allegedly affiliated with the PKI. For the next 11
\nyears, he was rotated around different prisons in Medan.<\/p>\n
When he was finally released in 1978, he had to swallow
\nanother bitter pill, his wife, Misnem, and his only daughter,
\nSusiana, had left the house, and him.<\/p>\n
"They were ashamed having a husband and father like me, who
\nwas sent to prison because I was accused of being involved with
\nthe PKI. That's why they left me," Edi said.<\/p>\n
Another ex-prisoner, M. Farid Hisyam, was also left by his
\nwife and two children after spending only two years inside of a
\n12-year sentence.<\/p>\n
The 69-year-old was jailed for being the head of North
\nSumatra's Indonesian Students Association affiliated to the PKI.
\n"I feel fine that my wife and children left me. Let people know
\nme as I am," Hisyam said defiantly.<\/p>\n
The PKI was accused of being responsible for the coup, which
\nresulted in the killings of six military generals. Former
\npresident Soeharto rose to power after the coup attempt. After
\nbanning the PKI, his government sent thousands of PKI members and
\ntheir relatives to prison without trial. Those later released
\nfrom prison were denied government jobs. Hundreds of thousands
\nmore people suspected of being linked to the PKI were slaughtered
\nby their neighbors.<\/p>\n
In the years following Soeharto's fall, conditions have become
\nless hostile to suspected PKI members and their families. Early
\nlast year, the Constitutional Court restored the political rights
\nof those linked with the communist party by allowing them to vote
\nand contest in the legislative elections.<\/p>\n
However, jobs for released PKI members are hard to find and
\nfamily members still face persecution. Dalan Lingga, who led the
\nPKI subsection committee in Dairi regency, can only work as a
\nfarmer in his village in Tiga Linggga.<\/p>\n
The 70-year-old was joined by his son, a university graduate
\nfrom North Sumatra University, whose nomination as a village head
\nthree years ago was turned down by the regental administration
\nbecause his family was associated with the PKI.<\/p>\n
Another ex-prisoner, Aston Tumanggor, 75, said his son was
\nrecently rejected when he applied as a civil servant once it was
\nknown that he came from a family associated with the PKI.<\/p>\n
"None of my children can work in government offices. This is
\nnot fair. What makes us so different with the Free Aceh Movement
\nrebels who are granted freedom and given money, while we can't
\neven work in a government office," the father of eight said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/former-political-prisoners-still-haunted-by-past-1447893297",
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