Human rights commission urges release of 21 jailed students
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights appealed to the authorities yesterday to free 21 students who were jailed last week for defaming President Soeharto.
"We call on the court to put the students under house arrest instead," Commission Vice Chairman Marzuki Darusman told The Jakarta Post yesterday. "We appeal to the court's sense of political justice."
Marzuki reiterated the commission's stance on the case of the defamation of President Soeharto, saying the students' actions were "based on their political rights".
The students held a protest, during which they were said to have tarnished Soeharto's name, at the House of Representatives (DPR) on Dec. 14.
"The DPR is the right place for people to express their political rights," Marzuki said. "The students should not have been arrested or tried at all."
The students are currently appealing against the six month jail terms they received. With the time they spent under detention, the students will be free by June 14.
"All the more reason to release them now," Marzuki said when it was pointed out to him that the students would soon be released anyway.
The commission, which was founded in December, made the same appeal in February. Although it has no power, the commission's recommendations carry strong weight, given its position and the presence of respected public figures on it.
Despite the appeal, however, the court proceeded with the trial, even during the Moslem fasting month of Ramadhan, Marzuki said.
He said the commission finds the sentence "light," but would still maintain its appeal. "We welcome the verdicts, but would still like to see the students released," he said. "All they did was express their political rights."
At the time of the demonstration, the students criticized the government's overt concern with security, on which they blamed a series of violent incidents in recent years. The students also demanded that the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) hold an emergency session to ask Soeharto to account for his leadership. (swe)