Govt releases two more political prisoners
JAKARTA (JP): The government released yesterday two more political prisoners and dropped charges against three female activists who had been accused of disrupting public order.
The two released were Nuku Suleiman, 34, chairman of human rights group the Pijar Foundation, and Andi Syahputra, 33, an activist from the Alliance of Independent Journalists.
"Nuku and Andi left at 6 p.m. after receiving the presidential decrees from the State Secretariat," Joko, an official at Cipinang Penitentiary, East Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post.
Joko said the Ministry of Justice's director general of correctional institutions, Thahir Abdullah, witnessed the release.
Compared to Tuesday's release of Sri Bintang Pamungkas and Muchtar Pakpahan, yesterday's release was a low-key affair.
Nuku was sentenced to four years in 1994 for distributing stickers insulting then president Soeharto.
Andi was sentenced to 30 months last year also for defaming Soeharto by printing an unlicensed magazine, Suara Independen, which contained articles tarnishing Soeharto's image.
Women
Separately, justice ministry spokesman Sardjono revealed that the charges against Karlina Leksono, Gadis Arivia Effendi and Wilasih Noviana had been dropped.
The three were charged in February for disrupting public order by staging a street rally without permission. However, they were not imprisoned.
Karlina and Gadis were among the proponents of the rally, grouped under the Voice of Concerned Mothers, who decried the soaring price of milk.
Wilasih was a bystander who sympathized with the rally and decided to join in.
The release of Nuku and Andi is part of the government's promise to eventually release all political prisoners.
Tuesday's release of Bintang and Pakpahan brought much praise both here and abroad.
The two urged leading non-governmental organizations yesterday such as the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) to spearhead a special commission to ensure the release of all political prisoners.
"If the government claims that Indonesia is a democratic country, there should be no political prisoners here anymore," YLBHI's chairman, Bambang Widjojanto, told the Post.
Minister of Justice Muladi said Monday that more political prisoners would be freed. But he ruled out freedom for those linked to the failed Communist-backed coup in 1965, for people jailed on criminal charges and for those who had attempted to replace the state ideology Pancasila. (byg)