Budiman bids farewell to jail

Budiman bids farewell to jail

JAKARTA (JP): There were traces of relief, happiness and hope
for a bright new life when 91 political inmates nationwide were
released on Friday in a virtual marking of the end of past
authoritarianism, in which thousands of people were sent to jail
for their political beliefs.

Under an evening rainfall at exactly 9 p.m., Democratic
People's Party (PRD) Budiman Sudjatmiko and fellow released
prisoners stepped out of Cipinang Penitentiary.

Loud cheers from around 50 PRD supporters, who had been
waiting for the historic event for hours, greeted Budiman and his
five party activists who were sentenced to serve between six and
13 years in jail.

The six PRD activists were convicted of treason following the
government-supported takeover of the Indonesian Democratic
Party's office on Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta in 1996.

"Now I will be with you. You gave me strength when I was at
the lowest ebb of my life. Now we will begin a new fight for a
better future," Budiman told his supporters outside the
penitentiary.

Once outlawed by the government of former president Soeharto,
PRD contested the June elections, but did not win enough votes to
gain House of Representatives seats.

Not far from the place where he stood, his girlfriend
Catherine, along with his father Wartono and mother Sri Sulastri,
watched the young activist celebrate.

"First I would like to thank the people, my mother and the
students for my release. It was because of their struggle for
sweeping reform," he said.

Budiman and his five PRD friends were granted amnesty by
President Abdurrahman Wahid after spending almost three years in
prison. "If it wasn't because of the people, maybe I would stay
10 years longer in here," he said to express his thanks to the
new reformist government.

He said he would prefer to stay in prison if one of his
friends, Petrus Hariyanto, was excluded from the list of
prisoners released.

Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who saw
off prisoners from Cipinang Penitentiary, said that the initial
failure to pick Petrus was a "technical mistake".

In front of Budiman and his lawyer Hendardi, Yusril said he
had earlier told President Abdurrahman about the condition. "The
President asked for my suggestion upon the matter and I proposed
the government give amnesty to Petrus also," Yusril said.

"Then I order you to release him," President Abdurrahman Wahid
said as quoted by Yusril. A presidential decree for Petrus'
release will be issued on Saturday morning.

The released was made official at 8 p.m. when Director General
of Correctional Affairs Hassanudin, Hendardi and Yusril signed
the release documents and handed them to Budiman, who represented
PRD inmates and Gregorio Da Cunha Saldanha, who represented East
Timorese prisoners.

Budiman said he would continue his political career and build
up his party. "I will initiate reconciliation inside my party and
give political education to the cadres," he said.

Along with the PRD's activists, the government also released
18 political prisoners from East Timor. Two of them had been
detained in Cipinang since the Santa Cruz incident in 1991, while
the other 16 were arrested in 1997.

All of the East Timorese will be flying to Dili on Saturday
morning with the help of the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC), which has chartered a plane to transport them.

The spokesperson of ICRC, Sri Wahyu Endah said that Xanana
would welcome the ex-prisoners as soon as they set their feet
back in their homeland.

One of the East Timorese, Mario Fillipe, said he was grateful
to the new Indonesian government. "Now I can go home and build
East Timor with my fellow countrymen," he said. Mario was
arrested in 1997.

Joan Bosco Ximenes expressed another feeling. "I regretted the
slow action of the government, we should have been released three
months ago," he said.

Another East Timorese, Gregorio Da Cunha Saldanha, said that
he no longer felt hatred toward Indonesia. "I hope Dili can have
build better relationship with Indonesia, as Indonesia is under a
new good government," he said.

Gregorio was arrested in 1991 after the Santa Cruz incident.
"I don't know where my family is. My house has been burned, but
I'm happy now because I can see my homeland again," he said.

Some of the East Timorese refused to talk to reporters.

Earlier on Friday, the State Minister of Human Rights Affairs
Hasballah M. Saad said that Dec. 10, which coincided with the
commemoration of international Human Rights Day, was the right
momentum to put an end to political imprisonment.

"What a good coincidence, maybe the President also sees today
as the right moment to give amnesty," he told reporters during
his visit to Cipinang Penitentiary.

In commemoration of Human Rights Day, Hasballah visited
Cipinang Penitentiary and the women's penitentiary in Tangerang.
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