Labor activist Mochtar acquitted by Supreme Court

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union chairman Mochtar Pakpahan, who was sentenced to four years jail in January in connection with the 1994 labor riots in Medan, North Sumatra, has been acquitted on appeal to the Supreme Court.

Mochtar, a doctor of law, was sentenced to three years of imprisonment by a Medan District Court in 1994 on conviction of inciting workers to strike in Medan, Pematang Siantar and Jakarta between April 1993 and April 1994.

On appeal against the conviction to the Medan High Court, Mochtar's sentence was increased to four years.

At least one businessmen was killed and dozens of shops were damaged in the April riots in Medan in which thousands of workers and students took part.

According to the Supreme Court ruling on Friday, in passing the verdict on Mochtar the district court had misapplied the law.

The Supreme Court also ruled that the high court had misinterpreted article 160 of the Penal Code, which concerns incitement, the Kompas daily reported yesterday. The Supreme Court panel of judges was presided over by Adi Andojo Soetjipto. The bench was comprised of the same team of judges which acquitted seven convicts in the case of Marsinah in May.

Marsinah was a labor activist who was kidnapped and brutally murdered in 1993, a few days after she led a strike at a watch- making factory in Sidoardjo, East Java.

The last sittings of Mochtar's trial in the Medan District Court were boycotted by Mochtar's defense lawyers in protest against the court's refusal to hear a defense witness.

The high court ruled in January that the sentence handed down by the district court was too lenient, saying that the defendant's criminal acts had caused restlessness among the public, while the current long-term economic development plan required stability and peaceful conditions.

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation welcomed the Supreme Court's decision, saying the court had declined to approve efforts to incriminate Mochtar in his struggle to see workers' rights respected.

According to the foundation, the Supreme Court decision is also significant in relation to efforts to free Indonesia's judiciary from "outside influences."

The foundation said that the decision should serve as a lesson to all district and high courts. Mochtar could not be contacted for comment last night. A member of his family told The Jakarta Post that he is currently traveling abroad. (tis)