Govt to release more political prisoners
Govt to release more political prisoners
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Muladi said here yesterday
that at least 10 more political prisoners will be released within
the next 10 days.
Muladi however said that East Timorese separatist leader Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao would not be among those who would be
released.
"It is already clear that Xanana was sentenced under criminal
charges and actually this case will depend on a comprehensive
solution to the East Timor problem," Muladi told reporters at his
office in Kuningan, South Jakarta.
Muladi said that whether or not Xanana would be released
should be discussed in the tripartite dialog between Indonesia,
Portugal and the United Nations.
Since the resignation of former president Soeharto on May 21,
the new government under B.J. Habibie has taken a more lenient
line on political prisoners and released at least 23 including
former legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas and labor leader Muchtar
Pakpahan.
However the government maintains that those who were convicted
of a criminal offense, involved with the now banned Indonesian
Communist Party, or due to attempting to change the state
ideology Pancasila, will not be released.
Muladi said the number of political prisoners who would be
released in the coming days would be larger than earlier batches
as the government has been conducting an evaluation of all
political prisoners.
"We have been evaluating some 200 political prisoners, but
this does mean that we will release them all," Muladi added.
The Ministry of Justice said earlier this month that at least
194 political prisoners are still locked up in prisons throughout
the country.
Muladi said that a special team which includes members from
his ministry, the foreign ministry, the Attorney General's
Office, the Armed Forces Intelligence Agency and the National
Intelligence Coordinating Agency would submit the evaluation to a
meeting of Cabinet members under the coordinating minister for
political and security affairs in the coming days, before it
would be forwarded to President B.J. Habibie for final approval.
Muladi said the evaluation of the political prisoners was
almost complete, but could not give a specific timeframe of when
any releases would likely occur. (byg)