Experts call for release of more political prisoners

JAKARTA (JP): Three authoritative legal experts are calling for the release of more political prisoners convicted in connection with the abortive 1965 coup.

The demand comes following the government's announcement that three former political prisoners would be released this week.

Luhut P. Pangaribuan, Andi Hamzah and Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, said that while they welcome the announcement, the decision to grant clemency to only three was very discriminative.

They made their statement during a seminar on the Indonesian legal system jointly organized by the Center for Information and Development Studies and the Indonesian Society for Humanism on Friday.

"If three political prisoners deserved clemency, so should the others," Pangaribuan said. "What about the others who have also applied for clemency?"

He argued that based on the principle of treating everybody equally before the law, all political prisoners should get the same treatment.

President Soeharto has granted clemency to Soebandrio, Omar Dhani and Raden Soegeng Soetarto, commuting their life sentences to lives as free men. They are due to leave the Cipinang Correctional Institution in Jakarta on Aug. 16, ending nearly 30 years of incarceration.

The government said the decision was based chiefly on humanitarian grounds, given their ages and health conditions. The three were also regarded as "fellow travelers" rather than "hard- line" communists, unlike the dozen or more still in prison and on death row.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said there were 10 other political prisoners convicted for the 1965 coup who applied for clemency. He did not say whether the requests have been rejected but other officials said some were still being considered.

The granting of clemency is the constitutional prerogative of the president.

Andi Hamzah, a former aide to Attorney General, said the other political prisoners have paid their dues to society like Soebandrio, Omar Dhani and Soetarto and therefore should also be released.

He underlined the principle underlying imprisonment, which is to reform less than it is to avenge.

While not debating the decision to release the three men, Andi questioned the legal basis of granting them a second clemency. As far as he knows, clemency can be granted but once.

Soebandrio, Omar Dhani and Soetarto were originally sentenced to death but their sentences were commuted to life in jail in the early 1980s after they applied for clemency.

Andi said that by granting clemency a second time, the government has set a dangerous precedent because people may now apply for clemency over and over again.

A person facing death, he said, will certainly use this facility to delay execution. By law, an execution cannot be carried out until all possible legal channels of reprieve have been exhausted.

Harkristuti argued that the country's political prisoners have been punished sufficiently for their crimes. "Thirty years imprisonment is not a short time for the prisoners," she said.

"History is part of us, but let's not become obsessed by it," she said. (imn)