Jailing of activist called unfair

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The jailing of a university student for insulting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a reflection of the government's reluctance to accept public criticism, an observer says.

Sociologist Ngurah Karyadi said on Tuesday, as a President who was directly elected, Susilo belonged to the people and should scrap all prerogatives that would distance him from the nation.

"In accordance with the electoral process, the President is no longer a state symbol, but a representative of the people who elected him," Karyadi said.

He was responding to the Denpasar District Court's sentencing last Friday of Udayana University student I Wayan Suardana alias Gendo to six months' imprisonment for insulting the President during a rally in January against the fuel price increase.

Karyadi said the conviction proved the government had failed to make a break with the past, when criticism was perceived as an attempt to undermine the government.

People, he said, were far more critical of the government now than in the past, thanks to the reform movement.

The judges convicted Gendo of violating Article 134 of the Criminal Code on insulting government officials by setting fire to Susilo's picture.

Over the past six months, six students have been sentenced to between five months' and three years' imprisonment for insulting the head of state.

Critics have called for the revocation of the controversial article in the Criminal Code, which is a legacy of the Dutch colonial government, saying it has restricted criticism and freedom of expression.

Gendo will only be behind bars for a further 22 days as he has been detained since Jan. 3, but the court accepted on Monday prosecutors' demand for an extension of his detention pending their appeal to a higher court.

A criminologist, however, agreed to the imprisonment of Suardana, saying the student had gone too far.

"People must look at the case in proportion. They must differentiate between students who demonstrate and people who insult or denounce others," Gede Made Suardana said.

Suardana said the way Gendo criticized the government had gone against political education for people in a democratic country like Indonesia.

"People must uphold ethics when conveying their opinion," he said.

Democracy, he said, should not be at the price of the President's reputation.

"Whoever the president is, he or she deserves protection and it is also the responsibility of people to protect their president," Suardana said.

Both Karyadi and Suardana criticized the judges who failed to give the convict the chance to accept or reject the verdict in accordance with the Criminal Code.