High court upholds PRD activists' verdicts<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta High Court has upheld the sentences
\nagainst five leaders of the Democratic People's Party (PRD) who
\nwere convicted for subversion earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Judge Supraptini Sutarto told reporters that the high court
\nfound the rulings by the Central Jakarta District Court to be
\n\"correct and precise\".<\/p>\n
The panel of judges adopted the verdicts of the lower court in
\ntheir entirety, she said.<\/p>\n
Five leaders of the PRD, all in their 20s, were sentenced by
\nthe Central Jakarta District Court in April to between seven and
\n13 years imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko received the stiffest term. The
\nother four convicted activists are Garda Sembiring, Yakobus Eko
\nKurniawan, Ignatius Damianus Pranowo and Suroso.<\/p>\n
They were all found guilty of undermining the state ideology
\nPancasila and inciting students and workers to demonstrate
\nagainst the government.<\/p>\n
The PRD, a group of mostly young activists, rose to prominence
\nlast year when it took part in a free-speech forum at the
\ndisputed head office of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
\nIts members went into hiding after the military blamed them for
\nthe July 27 riot in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
It is not immediately clear on what grounds the high court
\nbased its verdict given that the defendants, according to their
\nlawyers, had not even formally filed their appeals to the court.<\/p>\n
The defendants had only expressed orally their intention to
\nappeal, they said.<\/p>\n
Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute and
\na member of the defense team, called the High Court's decision a
\n\"miscarriage of justice\".<\/p>\n
Luhut said his clients had not been able to file an appeal in
\nwriting because they were waiting for the documents from the
\nCentral Jakarta District Court regarding the verdicts.<\/p>\n
\"How could they (the defendants) gain justice if the district
\ncourt had not provided them with the verdicts in writing?\" he
\nasked.<\/p>\n
The high court had made a ruling without allowing the PRD
\nactivists to defend themselves, he said.<\/p>\n
\"This further supports the perception that in political legal
\ncases, the verdicts had been made before the trial started,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Six other members of the PRD have been sentenced to between 18
\nmonths and six years imprisonment for similar offenses by the
\nSouth Jakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
Four of them had announced their intention to lodge appeals
\nbut they too were waiting for their court papers, their lawyer
\nHotma Timbul Hutapea said. (05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/high-court-upholds-prd-activists-verdicts-1447893297",
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