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.