Activist faces heavy sentence

SURABAYA, East Java: Prosecutors have demanded five years jail for Mohammad Soleh, a local member of the unrecognized Democratic People's Party, for alleged subversion.

Led by Ida Kemang Pulawidana, the prosecution at the Surabaya district court said yesterday that Soleh had undermined the state by inciting workers rallies in Surabaya.

"It has been proved that the defendant and his friends incited masses of workers to demonstrate in Surabaya's streets," Ida Kemang said.

The prosecution also accused Soleh of threatening national stability and reducing workers' productivity, which adversely affected the country's foreign income.

"The only redeeming quality that the defendant has is his young age and the fact that he has never been convicted," the chief prosecutor said.

Soleh said he refused to be cowed by the threat of imprisonment. "I will continue my struggle to help workers for ever. These charges are cheap political ploys," he said. "The cause that I've been fighting for is for the good of the nation. We won't give up."

Soleh's colleagues, Dita Indah Sari and Coen Hosein Pontoh, are also charged with subversion. Prosecutors have demanded eight years and six years imprisonment respectively for them. (nur)