Release of political prisoners demanded<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Just hours after the resignation of President
\nSoeharto, there were already strong calls for the new government
\nto release those incarcerated on \"political\" grounds.<\/p>\n
Legal expert Loebby Lukman said here yesterday that the new
\nhead of state should promptly grant amnesties and absolutions to
\nthose currently imprisoned for political cases such as former
\nlegislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas and labor leader Muchtar
\nPakpahan.<\/p>\n
\"This is because the grounds used by the government should now
\nchange along with the system,\" Loebby said.<\/p>\n
The University of Indonesia lecturer was quoted by Antara as
\nsaying that Bintang and Pakpahan were jailed during the Soeharto
\nera because they opposed policies at that time.<\/p>\n
Now, according to Loebby, their struggle may very well be the
\nthings that the new government is striving to achieve.<\/p>\n
But, in the end, it all depends on President Habibie and
\nwhether he wishes to continue the policies of the old regime,
\nLoebby remarked.<\/p>\n
Separately, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation
\n(YLBHI) Bambang Widjojanto said the foundation would meet the
\nMinistry of Justice's director general for correctional
\ninstitutions to ask the latter to reconsider Bintang's
\nimprisonment.<\/p>\n
He also argued that there was no longer any basis for keeping
\nBintang in jail. He has been serving a 34-month term at Cipinang
\nPenitentiary since May 1996 after being found guilty of defaming
\nSoeharto during a seminar in Berlin in 1995.<\/p>\n
Bintang, a controversial politician, was formerly a legislator
\nof the United Development Party (PPP) in the House of
\nRepresentatives from 1992. He was later recalled by the party for
\nbeing too outspoken.<\/p>\n
Pakpahan, who is serving a four-year jail term for allegedly
\ninciting a mass labor riot in Medan, North Sumatra, in April
\n1994, is chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union, which
\nwas not recognized by Soeharto's government.<\/p>\n
Pakpahan is also being tried for slandering Soeharto in
\nspeeches shortly before the bloody July 27 incident in 1996.<\/p>\n
The outspoken secretary-general of the Association of
\nIndonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), Adi Sasono, also charged
\nyesterday that political prisoners should be released.<\/p>\n
Bintang's wife, Ernalia, was optimistic that her husband and
\nPakpahan would soon be released.<\/p>\n
Ernalia said she had been informed by someone that influential
\nMoslem scholar Amien Rais had also said that they would be
\nreleased. No officials could be reached to confirm the claim.
\n(ivy\/aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/release-of-political-prisoners-demanded-1447893297",
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