Activists seek to freeze Yogya LBH

Activists seek to freeze Yogya LBH

YOGYAKARTA (JP): A women group and activists from Bandung have challenged a proposal to freeze the activities of the Yogyakarta chapter of Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (LBH).

The proposal to freeze the activities of the local LBH was pushed last month by seven lawyers who founded the institute following a leadership rift.

The nine-member Yogyakarta Women Advocates women group, dismissed the proposal as an "arrogant, unconstitutional and unprofessional" way of solving the problem.

"The petition to liquidate the local LBH branch is an emotional move and the signatories should have talked with the institute's leaders in the first place," the group said in a statement.

Meanwhile the Bandung LBH activists said the founders' demand was irrelevant.

The founders want to freeze the Yogyakarta LBH for supporting changing the Jakarta-based Foundation of Indonesian Legal Aid Institute into a federation. (02/pan)