Latief asked to explain Pakpahan's trial to world

Latief asked to explain Pakpahan's trial to world

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has asked Minister of
Manpower Abdul Latief to tell the world that the Medan trial of
labor activist Muchtar Pakpahan is of a criminal nature.

The ongoing trial is not a show of might to repress workers
demand for better pay, Soeharto was quoted by Latief as saying
Saturday.

Latief, who met with the President to report on Indonesia's
planned participation in the International Labor Union in Geneva,
said he had been besieged by inquiries from international
organizations about Pakpahan's trial.

The chairman of the Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI) trade union
is standing trial in the North Sumatra capital of Medan on
charges of inciting a violent labor demonstration in that city in
April.

One businessman was killed and many shops and factories were
vandalized in the demonstrations in which thousands of workers
from Medan and nearby towns demanded higher wages.

"The case was brought to trial because there was an incident
that caused damage to property as well as a fatality," Latief
said.

In a related development, the Medan court last week sentenced
the secretary of the local branch of SBSI, Hayati, to seven
months in jail after the judge found her guilty of inciting the
violence.

The council of judges said that Hayati, 21, organized a series
of meeting with labor activists to plan street demonstrations.
The judge had demanded one year.

Earlier the court convicted another local SBSI secretary,
Riswan Lubis, 26, of a similar offense and sent him away for
eight months.

Latief said that President Soeharto reiterated that the
ministry of manpower would phase out the export of unskilled
workers so that eventually only professional jobseekers can be
sent overseas.

According to government statistics, more than half of the
384,830 overseas Indonesian workers make a living in Saudi Arabia
with 156,000 in neighboring Malaysia.

Latief said the bulk of Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia are
domestic maids. In the future, he said, more skilled workers are
expected to be able to take better-paying jobs. (pan)