Acehnese activist to be tried in Medan

Acehnese activist to be tried in Medan

JAKARTA: Human rights activist Muhammad Nazar, who has been
accused of urging the Acehnese not to celebrate Indonesia's
independence day, will be tried in a Medan court due to the lack
of judges in Aceh.

Chairman of the Banda Aceh court, Farida Hanoum, revealed here
on Tuesday that the justice minister appointed a court in Medan
to try Nazar, chairman of the Information Center for the
Referendum in Aceh (SIRA).

Farida said her office will send Nazar's dossier to the Medan
court on Tuesday next week.

"Besides the lack of judges, the volatile security situation
in the province was another consideration when reaching the
decision to try him in Medan," she said.

Nazar, who has been in detention since Nov. 20 last year,
organized a congress which demanded that the Acehnese be allowed
to decide their own future through a referendum.

Fighting continues to ravage the oil-rich province despite the
signing of a one-month moratorium on violence by the government
and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM). (lem)