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