Idul Fitri spent in quiet solitude by inmates<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Idul Fitri was spent in solitude by inmates in
\nGreater Jakarta area on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Businessman Ricardo Gelael, a convict in a 1995 land swap deal
\nwho along with former president Soeharto's son Hutomo \"Tommy\"
\nMandala Putra, has been sentenced to 18 months in jail, expressed
\nhis sadness of having to spend the holidays in jail.<\/p>\n
\"It is very sad, but it is fate and one cannot do anything
\nagainst it (fate),\" Ricardo told reporters at the Cipinang
\npenitentiary in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
In contrast, one of two convicted murderers released from
\nCipinang on Idul Fitri, Mohammad Siradjuddin alias Pak De, who is
\nremembered for the 1986 murder of pregnant model Dietje
\nBudimuljono, expressed his joy.<\/p>\n
\"I have lost 14 years of my life in prison and I cannot have
\nit back again. I hope law and justice will be enforced in this
\ncountry,\" Pak De said.<\/p>\n
Pak De was among the 1,077 Muslim convicts nationwide who were
\nfreed on Idul Fitri. 148 Christian convicts were freed on Monday.<\/p>\n
A total of 26,578 of nearly 57,000 convicts nationwide
\nreceived special remissions.<\/p>\n
In the Salemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta, East Timor
\nmilitia leader Eurico Guterres had a quiet Christmas since his
\nwife and three children are still in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
\"I spent Christmas with the other inmates and the wardens.
\nThey are my family and friends here,\" 24-year-old Eurico said
\nduring a gathering at the prison.<\/p>\n
Eurico is being detained pending his trial which is slated for
\nJan. 2, 2001, over his alleged involvement in the seizure of his
\nmen's illegal weapons which had only shortly before been
\nsurrendered to the Atambua police station in East Nusa Tenggara
\nlast September.<\/p>\n
\"I'm ready to face my trial. Hopefully the judges will find me
\nguilty so that the people can see how the country treats her
\nnational fighters. If this is case, eventually only Java island
\nwill remain in the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"I devoted my life for my nation and my people, but now I am
\nin jail. Once I get out of jail, I'll ask Jesus to guide me in
\nthe right way and I want to live for my wife and my kids.\"<\/p>\n
Another Salemba prison inmate, former military cadet Ismail
\nPutra, sentenced to a seven-year jail term for his role in the
\nproduction of Rp 19.2 billion (US$2 million) in fake banknotes
\nthis year, and who still holds former Army chief Gen. Tyasno
\nSudarto responsible, expressed his new year wishes.<\/p>\n
\"My wish for the new year is that Indonesian courts handle
\nmilitary defendants differently,\" Ismail said.<\/p>\n
Ismail said everything was justified in war, and that as a
\nmilitary man, he would have done anything to fight for the
\nunitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Killing is wrong, but in war, the more people I kill, the
\nmore medals I would have received. When the general (Tyasno) told
\nme that East Timor was in grave danger of being separated from
\nIndonesia and that the military had to do everything in their
\npower to maintain it, I was ready,\" Ismail said.<\/p>\n
\"I produced fake money because my superior ordered me to.\"<\/p>\n
Ismail added that his only disappointment with the Army was
\nthat his superior did not take responsibility for something which
\nwas \"justified in war\".<\/p>\n
Wish<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in the Tangerang women's penitentiary, some 150
\nfemale convicts listened attentively to a Muslim cleric, who
\nadvised them to strengthen their soul during rough times in
\nprison.<\/p>\n
International cocaine smuggler, Meirika Franola, alias Ola,
\nwho was sentenced to death in August said she thought of her
\nhusband, a drug smuggler from the Ivory Coast who was shot dead
\nin a drug bust here in January.<\/p>\n
\"I think of him a lot. The one thing I pray for today is a
\nlong life. I hope God gives my children the patience to accept
\nthis test of losing their father, and the huge possibility of
\nlosing their mother too,\" Meirika said.<\/p>\n
Meirika added that her second wish concerned her children.<\/p>\n
\"My New Year's resolution is to keep reminding my parents not
\nto bring up my two children as they had brought me up. My
\nchildren should never follow the footsteps of their father or
\nmother.\"<\/p>\n
Convicted for drug possession for the second time, former
\ntelevision actress Zarina Mirafsur alias Zarima, said that her
\nprayers were reserved for her five-month-old baby Nikita
\nChairunnisya, and her family.<\/p>\n
\"I have been having mixed emotions. I'm sad that I have to
\nspend Idul Fitri here without my family around but I am happy
\nthat they are coming tomorrow with my baby. How I miss her. I
\nhope there's a silver lining to whatever has happened to me,\" she
\ntold journalists after the Idul Fitri prayers at the front yard
\nof the penitentiary.<\/p>\n
\"I pray for my case to be over soon at the Supreme Court so
\nthat I can have my freedom back. I believe God is just and will
\npunish those who had put me in trouble. I don't deserve this.\"
\n(ylt\/bby\/01)<\/p>",
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