Mega reacts emotionally to stomping protesters
Mega reacts emotionally to stomping protesters
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Speaking again before supporters of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) at her private residence in
Kebagusan, South Jakarta on Tuesday, President Megawati
Soekarnoputri expressed her disappointment over recent
antigovernment demonstrations in which protesters stomped on her
pictures.
"When I look at my pictures -- and I actually look pretty
there -- and see people stomping on them, I feel like I want to
throw up ... like a volcano about to explode," she said in an
emotional tone.
She added she felt like going after the protesters, warning in
Javanese, "I'll remember that face."
Before a similar forum at the same place last Tuesday, the
President criticized the press which she said were unfair in
their coverage of the antigovernment demonstration. The informal
speech drew cynical reactions from her critics who said she only
dared to speak out in front of her supporters, instead of in
formal and respected fora.
Police have been cracking down on protesters who allegedly
insulted the President in various ways during the rallies.
Police have summoned five students in Solo, Central Java,
after they allegedly burned the pictures of her and Vice
President Hamzah Haz.
Earlier this month, a 20-year-old Acehnese woman activist
Raihana Diani was sentenced to six months in prison for insulting
Megawati and Hamzah. She painted a red X on the pictures of the
two leaders.
Raihana said it was a personal expression but prosecutors were
not amused and demanded she be jailed for eight months.
Two demonstrators were sentenced to one year in prison in
October last year after they were caught stomping on the official
portraits of Megawati and Hamzah.
All have been charged with violating Article 134 of the
Criminal Code on the deliberate intent to insult the president or
vice president. The crime carries a maximum penalty of six years
in prison.
Right activists have raised concerns over the government's
increased use of the article.
Known as a "rubber" article, the clause was often used under
President Soeharto's regime to suppress critics.
Former president B.J. Habibie and his successor Abdurrahman
Wahid drew many antigovernment demonstrations but neither invoked
the article to act against their protesters.
"There are ethics in criticizing," Megawati told her cheering
supporters, and questioned why students burned tires or the
national flag when they demonstrated.
But political analyst Hermawan Sulistyo said the government
was responding to harsh sanctions over recent protests against
increases in fuel prices, electricity and telephone charges.
According to him, the government had become sensitive because
the protests were also targeting Megawati.
University of Indonesia's legal expert Harkristuti Harkrisnowo
added that the ambiguous criteria over what constitutes an insult
to the president gave the government leeway to go after
protesters.
"It is up to the police to determine whether someone has
insulted the president and should therefore be prosecuted" she
said but added that the final decision rested with court judges.
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Speaking again before supporters of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) at her private residence in
Kebagusan, South Jakarta on Tuesday, President Megawati
Soekarnoputri expressed her disappointment over recent
antigovernment demonstrations in which protesters stomped on her
pictures.
"When I look at my pictures -- and I actually look pretty
there -- and see people stomping on them, I feel like I want to
throw up ... like a volcano about to explode," she said in an
emotional tone.
She added she felt like going after the protesters, warning in
Javanese, "I'll remember that face."
Before a similar forum at the same place last Tuesday, the
President criticized the press which she said were unfair in
their coverage of the antigovernment demonstration. The informal
speech drew cynical reactions from her critics who said she only
dared to speak out in front of her supporters, instead of in
formal and respected fora.
Police have been cracking down on protesters who allegedly
insulted the President in various ways during the rallies.
Police have summoned five students in Solo, Central Java,
after they allegedly burned the pictures of her and Vice
President Hamzah Haz.
Earlier this month, a 20-year-old Acehnese woman activist
Raihana Diani was sentenced to six months in prison for insulting
Megawati and Hamzah. She painted a red X on the pictures of the
two leaders.
Raihana said it was a personal expression but prosecutors were
not amused and demanded she be jailed for eight months.
Two demonstrators were sentenced to one year in prison in
October last year after they were caught stomping on the official
portraits of Megawati and Hamzah.
All have been charged with violating Article 134 of the
Criminal Code on the deliberate intent to insult the president or
vice president. The crime carries a maximum penalty of six years
in prison.
Right activists have raised concerns over the government's
increased use of the article.
Known as a "rubber" article, the clause was often used under
President Soeharto's regime to suppress critics.
Former president B.J. Habibie and his successor Abdurrahman
Wahid drew many antigovernment demonstrations but neither invoked
the article to act against their protesters.
"There are ethics in criticizing," Megawati told her cheering
supporters, and questioned why students burned tires or the
national flag when they demonstrated.
But political analyst Hermawan Sulistyo said the government
was responding to harsh sanctions over recent protests against
increases in fuel prices, electricity and telephone charges.
According to him, the government had become sensitive because
the protests were also targeting Megawati.
University of Indonesia's legal expert Harkristuti Harkrisnowo
added that the ambiguous criteria over what constitutes an insult
to the president gave the government leeway to go after
protesters.
"It is up to the police to determine whether someone has
insulted the president and should therefore be prosecuted" she
said but added that the final decision rested with court judges.