50 political prisoners to go free later this week
50 political prisoners to go free later this week
JAKARTA (JP): The government is to release 50 political
prisoners this week, Minister of Justice Muladi said here
yesterday.
"Fifty political prisoners will be released across Indonesia
in one or two days," Muladi said before meeting the United
Nations Special Envoy for East Timor Jamsheed Marker at his
office in Kuningan, South Jakarta.
Muladi said last week that 90 political prisoners were being
considered for release as part of the drive for greater democracy
pledged by President B.J. Habibie.
He explained that the discrepancy in the figures did not mean
the government was backing down on its commitment, but had arisen
because it was later found that some prisoners initially included
on the list did not meet the criteria for release.
Prisoners convicted of committing criminal offenses,
involvement with the banned Indonesian Communist Party, or
attempting to subvert the state ideology Pancasila are not
eligible for payroll.
When asked if the jailed East Timorese rebel leader Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao and pro-democracy activist Budiman
Sudjatmiko were among those to be released later this week,
Muladi said that "Xanana and Budiman are not among them."
The minister gave no other names or further details.
Pressure has been mounting here and abroad for the release of
Xanana. He is currently serving a 20 year jail term for plotting
against the state and the illegal possession of weapons.
The government has said that it would consider releasing
Xanana, but only within the framework of a peaceful international
solution to the problems in East Timor.
East Timor was a Portuguese colony until it was integrated
into Indonesia in 1976. The United Nations still regards Lisbon
as the administrating power in the territory.
Budiman, chairman of the outlawed People's Democratic Party,
is serving a 13 year jail term handed down last year for
undermining the state ideology and inciting students and workers
to demonstrate against the government.
The government has pardoned 23 political prisoners since
Habibie came to power in May after the fall of Soeharto. (byg)