Inquiry urged into activist's death

Inquiry urged into activist's death

SURABAYA (JP): Some 1,000 local workers staged a noisy
demonstration at the East Java provincial legislative council
yesterday, demanding the continued investigation of the killing
of labor activist Marsinah.

Calling themselves the Committee for the Commemoration of
Marsinah's Murder, the protesters carried posters and unfurled
banners.

"Stop violence against workers," read one banner.

Iwan, a worker at a shoe factory, told The Jakarta Post that
the demonstration was held to remind the public that progress in
the case was slow in coming.

"It's not fair that her murder should remain unsolved, while
many other crimes are closed far more quickly," he said.

Marsinah was found dead after organizing a workers' strike at
PT Catur Putra Surya, a watch manufacturer in Sidoarjo, East
Java. Her badly mutilated body was found on May 9, 1993, in an
abandoned shack near Nganjuk in East Java.

The case is still under police investigation. Judi Susanto,
director of the company and alleged mastermind of the murder, was
acquitted by the Supreme Court of all charges in November 1994.
Another person allegedly involved in the case, Mutiari, secretary
to the company, was acquitted later on in the same year.

The remaining seven defendants were acquitted by the Supreme
Court in May last year.

The protesters also brought up a host of other issues,
including poor working conditions, arbitrary dismissal of
workers, and lax enforcement of the laws on manpower.

The demonstrators failed to meet any legislators; they
reportedly snuck out the back door while the front gate was
blocked by police officers.

Trimoelja D. Soerjadi, lawyer of the acquitted Judi Susanto,
asked why it is taking the authorities so long to announce the
results of Marsinah's blood tests. It has been a year since the
authorities sent the blood sample for a DNA test in the United
States.

"Whoever was involved in the murder has to be punished," he
demanded. (15/imn)