Activist faces six years jail

Activist faces six years jail

An Indonesian student activist was facing up to six years in jail
after his trial opened on Thursday for allegedly insulting the
head of state in public by calling him a dog and a pig, a report
said.

At the Central Jakarta district court, Prosecutor Ledrik
accused Monang Johannes Tambunan, 24, from the Indonesian
National Student Movement (GMNI), of violating the penal code by
intentionally insulting the head of state in public, during a
protest in front of the palace on January 26.

Tambunan, while addressing a crowd of 1,000 protesters from a
platform truck equipped with powerful sound system, called
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, popularly referred to by his
initials SBY, a dog and a pig, the state Antara news agency said.

"SBY is a dog, SBY is a pig," the prosecutor said Tambunan had
yelled on the microphone before spitting.

Six years is the heaviest sentence for insulting the president
or the vice president in the Indonesian penal code which is
mainly derived from Dutch law.

The protest was held to mark the 100th day of Susilo being in
power.

Tambunan, from the technical faculty of the University of
North Sumatra, in Medan, North Sumatra province, has been
detained since Jan. 29. -- AFP