PRD activists refuse to testify<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Three Democratic People's Party (PRD) activists
\nrefused yesterday to testify against their leader Budiman
\nSujatmiko, who is on trial for subversion.<\/p>\n
Their decision angered Judge Sjoffinan Sumantri of the Central
\nJakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
Calling their behavior irresponsible, he invoked Criminal Code
\nArticle 224, which says it's a crime for anyone to refuse to
\ntestify when requested to by a court.<\/p>\n
Victor Da Costa, Ken Buddha Kusumandaru and Ign. Putut
\nArintoko said they could not testify in a trial which they said
\nhad been engineered to ensure Budiman's conviction.<\/p>\n
The accusation brought a sweeping retort from Judge Sjoffinan.
\n"It's none of your business, do you understand?"<\/p>\n
He then said he would leave it to the state prosecutors to
\nlook into the possibility of initiating court action over the
\nactivists' behavior.<\/p>\n
If found guilty, they face up to nine months in jail.<\/p>\n
The three men are also being tried separately for similar
\noffenses. Budiman and the PRD activists have been charged with
\nundermining the state and insulting government officials through
\ntheir activities under the 1963 Subversion law. Their offenses
\ncarry a maximum penalty of death.<\/p>\n
Arintoko told the judge that given that he is being tried on
\nsimilar charges, he feared that his testimony could be self-
\nincriminating.<\/p>\n
He said the summons issued by the court was defective for it
\nstated his date of birth incorrectly.<\/p>\n
The three men appeared in fine condition yesterday although
\nthey have been taking turns to go on hunger strike since Feb. 26
\nto protest their detention and the trials.<\/p>\n
They all wore red bands on their left arms reading "PRD hunger
\nstrike."<\/p>\n
Earlier yesterday the court heard the testimony of Bambang
\nWidjojanto, the chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation
\n(YLBHI), who appeared after ignoring three court summonses.<\/p>\n
Bambang lodged a protest with the court, insisting that as a
\nmember of Budiman's defense team he had a privileged client-
\nlawyer relationship that made it difficult for him to testify in
\ncourt.<\/p>\n
In his testimony, Bambang said he had not known about the
\nactivities of the PRD activists even though they had used the
\nYLBHI office for some of their meetings.<\/p>\n
"In principle, YLBHI allows all movements for democracy and
\nhuman rights to use our office," he said.<\/p>\n
The court also heard the testimony of Yamin M. Saleh, the
\nmember of staff at Bogor's sociopolitical office who interviewed
\nBudiman in 1988 after the headmaster of the SMAN 5 high school
\nalerted the authorities to Budiman's activities.<\/p>\n
Yamin said Budiman admitted he was establishing a discussion
\ngroup called Marx House, and was studying the 'new left' concept.<\/p>\n
Yamin presented the transcript of the interview to the court
\nas evidence. (05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/prd-activists-refuse-to-testify-1447893297",
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