Four more students accused of defamation released
JAKARTA (JP): Four students convicted of defaming President Soeharto during a demonstration at the House of Representatives (DPR) last year, were released yesterday after finishing their one year jail terms.
Yeni Rosa Damayanti, Teddy Wibisono, Gunardi Aswantoro, and Wandy Nicodemus T. became free citizens after being detained in December of last year.
Yeni left the Pondok Bambu correctional institution for women at 10:40 a.m., while the other three students at about the same time, walked out from the Salemba Detention Center.
Dressed in a floral-printed blouse and blue jeans, Yeni's enchanting appearance immediately ignited noisy cheers of welcome from fellow student activists, relatives and sympathizers waiting at the gate.
"Long live Yeni, long live students, long live people," the students shouted.
"I am coming out of a small jail today, but entering an even bigger jail called Indonesia," Yeni replied to the embrace of her well-wishers.
Among the hundreds present were Yeni's mother and her only brother, Frans Hendra Winarta of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, noted human rights activist H.J.C. Princen and members of the Pijar Foundation, who were waiting since 8 a.m.
"We came here early to anticipate the possible earlier release of Yeni," said Agus, of the foundation.
Yeni, saying that she had no regrets about what she did in the past, also read a "student pledge" before joining her well- wishers to the Taman Ismail Marzuki art complex to see the other three students who were awaiting her arrival.
The group then continued the celebration reading statements from several student activists at the art complex before they peacefully dispersed at 12:30 p.m..
The four students released yesterday were part of a group of 21 students who were arrested last year when they held a protest at the House of Representatives (DPR) in which they demanded that the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) call President Soeharto to account for government policy.
The 21 students were convicted by the Central Jakarta District Court in May for insulting President Soeharto during a demonstration at DPR on Dec. 14. The court then handed all 21 students six month prison terms, which meant they should have been freed on June 14.
Upheld
On the last day before their expected release, however, the Jakarta High Court, acting on an appeal from government prosecutors, upheld the guilty verdict and extended the terms to between eight months and 14 months.
The court argued that the terms were extended after finding the students guilty of contempt of court, saying that the students had used the court hearings for political propaganda.
Ten of the students, who were sentenced to eight months in prison, were released on Aug. 19 on a Supreme Court order. The Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) previously protested the Court and their jail terms, which should have ended on Aug. 14.
Two other guilty students, Masduki and Hendrik Dikson Sirait, were released on Oct. 11. They were earlier sentenced to 10 months imprisonment by the Central Jakarta District Court.
Four other students, who had also served 10-month terms, were only released the following day.
Adi Kurniawan from Darul Ulum University in Jombang, East Java, is still serving a 14-month term at the Salemba penitentiary, the last of the original 21 apprehended.(imn)