Ten pro-democracy students to be released<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Ten students jailed on charges of insulting
\nPresident Soeharto will soon be released by order of the Supreme
\nCourt, their lawyers said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Student sources said their colleagues, nine in the Salemba
\npenitentiary and one in Pondok Bambu womens penitentiary, would
\nbe freed this morning.<\/p>\n
The students are part of the 21 that the Central Jakarta
\ndistrict court found guilty in June of defaming Soeharto during a
\ndemonstration in December of last year.<\/p>\n
The students should have been released on Aug. 14 even if the
\nSupreme Court upheld the Jakarta High Court ruling to sentence
\nthem to eight months imprisonment. The other 11 students received
\nbetween 10 and 14 month jail terms.<\/p>\n
The lawyers, from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) and
\nthe Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin), represented the students
\nin the lower court. However, they said yesterday said they never
\nappealed to the Supreme Court on the students' behalf.<\/p>\n
They acknowledged, however, that they wrote to the Supreme
\nCourt asking for its intervention to ensure that the students
\nwould be released when their terms were up.<\/p>\n
Rita Serena Kolibonso of the LBH said the lawyers obtained the
\nSupreme Court's letter ordering the central Jakarta district
\ncourt and the Salemba penitentiary to release the students
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
\"The defense lawyers welcome the Supreme Court's positive
\nresponse to the efforts' to improve the implementation of the
\nlaws in the students' cases,\" Rita said.<\/p>\n
She said the lawyers are still waiting for the Supreme Court's
\nresponse to their request that the 11 remaining student detainees
\nalso be freed.<\/p>\n
The twist in the students' sentencing began when the
\nprosecutors could not accept the six month sentences that were
\nhanded down by the Central Jakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors appealed. The high court not only upheld the
\ndistrict court's guilty verdicts but also added several months to
\nthe sentences, which ranged between eight and 14 months. (pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ten-pro-democracy-students-to-be-released-1447893297",
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