Activist's jail death protested

Activist's jail death protested

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post/Semarang

Some 25 activists from the Front for Poor People's Struggle
(FPRM) staged a protest in front of a government office here on
Friday, questioning the government on the recent death of
prodemocracy activist Churzaini, alias Saddam Hussein, in his
prison cell recently.

Churzaini, a former member of People's Democratic Party (PRD),
was found dead in his cell on Saturday, August 21, in Pekalongan
Prison, Pekalongan, allegedly due to complications associated
with tuberculosis, from which he had suffered for some time. He
was convicted in 2002 of slander, after he had distributed
pamphlets in the street accusing government officials of
involvement in an alleged markup in the construction of
Pekalongan bus terminal. He was sentenced to five years in jail.

On Friday, protesters assembled in the vicinity of Langgar
market, Semarang, in the morning. They then marched to the West
Java office of the Ministry of Human Rights on Jl. DR. Cipto.
There, they staged performance art and demanded the ministry
dismiss Pekalongan Prison warden Tunggak Dharmono for the death
of Churzaini. They also demanded the government thoroughly
investigate Churzaini's death.

Nur Badrianto, the protest coordinator, claimed that other
non-governmental organizations in Central Java had also staged
protests in Pekalongan, Kudus, Solo and Magelang.

Separately, an official at the ministry, Wahyu Triono, said
that the activists demands would be conveyed to the head of the
Central Java office of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
for follow-up. Meanwhile, Tunggak was not available for comment
on Friday. The Jakarta Post contacted Pekalongan Prison, but to
no avail.