Govt releases two more political prisoners<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government released yesterday two more
\npolitical prisoners and dropped charges against three female
\nactivists who had been accused of disrupting public order.<\/p>\n
The two released were Nuku Suleiman, 34, chairman of human
\nrights group the Pijar Foundation, and Andi Syahputra, 33, an
\nactivist from the Alliance of Independent Journalists.<\/p>\n
\"Nuku and Andi left at 6 p.m. after receiving the presidential
\ndecrees from the State Secretariat,\" Joko, an official at
\nCipinang Penitentiary, East Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Joko said the Ministry of Justice's director general of
\ncorrectional institutions, Thahir Abdullah, witnessed the
\nrelease.<\/p>\n
Compared to Tuesday's release of Sri Bintang Pamungkas and
\nMuchtar Pakpahan, yesterday's release was a low-key affair.<\/p>\n
Nuku was sentenced to four years in 1994 for distributing
\nstickers insulting then president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Andi was sentenced to 30 months last year also for defaming
\nSoeharto by printing an unlicensed magazine, Suara Independen,
\nwhich contained articles tarnishing Soeharto's image.<\/p>\n
Women<\/p>\n
Separately, justice ministry spokesman Sardjono revealed that
\nthe charges against Karlina Leksono, Gadis Arivia Effendi and
\nWilasih Noviana had been dropped.<\/p>\n
The three were charged in February for disrupting public order
\nby staging a street rally without permission. However, they were
\nnot imprisoned.<\/p>\n
Karlina and Gadis were among the proponents of the rally,
\ngrouped under the Voice of Concerned Mothers, who decried the
\nsoaring price of milk.<\/p>\n
Wilasih was a bystander who sympathized with the rally and
\ndecided to join in.<\/p>\n
The release of Nuku and Andi is part of the government's
\npromise to eventually release all political prisoners.<\/p>\n
Tuesday's release of Bintang and Pakpahan brought much praise
\nboth here and abroad.<\/p>\n
The two urged leading non-governmental organizations yesterday
\nsuch as the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) to spearhead
\na special commission to ensure the release of all political
\nprisoners.<\/p>\n
\"If the government claims that Indonesia is a democratic
\ncountry, there should be no political prisoners here anymore,\"
\nYLBHI's chairman, Bambang Widjojanto, told the Post.<\/p>\n
Minister of Justice Muladi said Monday that more political
\nprisoners would be freed. But he ruled out freedom for those
\nlinked to the failed Communist-backed coup in 1965, for people
\njailed on criminal charges and for those who had attempted to
\nreplace the state ideology Pancasila. (byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-releases-two-more-political-prisoners-1447893297",
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