Free political prisoners: Dita

TANGERANG, West Java: Jailed labor activist Dita Indahsari urged the Habibie administration yesterday to free all political prisoners without exception.

She claimed to have heard that more political detainees would be released but said the government had yet to demonstrate its commitment to doing so.

Dita is currently serving a five year sentence in Tangerang prison for women. She was jailed by Surabaya district court in 1996 after being found guilty of subversion.

She said that if freed, she would remain faithful to the Democratic People's Party (PRD), which was banned by president Soeharto. Its key leaders have all been jailed.

She said she believed the economic crisis would continue until Indonesia had a democratically elected government. The incumbent Habibie, she said, was not credible to Indonesians or the international community because he was appointed by his predecessor. (41)