Milk protest costs Karlina and friends Rp 2,250 each

Milk protest costs Karlina and friends Rp 2,250 each

JAKARTA (JP): Astronomer Karlina Leksono and two other women
were each fined Rp 2,250 yesterday for staging a protest against
soaring milk prices at a busy Jakarta traffic circle.

Maintaining their innocence, the three women refused to pay
the fine or, alternatively, serve seven days in jail and
announced their intention to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Central Jakarta District Court found 40-year-old Karlina,
Gadis Arivia, 33, and Wilasih Noviana, 30, guilty of holding a
parade without a police permit in violation of Article 510 of the
Criminal Code.

"While we consider their action (to stage the protest)
honorable, the defendants should have applied for a police
permit," presiding judge Endang Soemarsih said in her verdict.

The court also ordered seven posters which were used during
the protests, and flowers, which have since died, to be
destroyed.

Karlina's arrest and trial drew protests from many people who
felt that she and the other women were voicing the concerns of
many women with children.

The trial drew a huge crowd, including Emil Salim, a former
cabinet member who is running a moral campaign for the vice
presidency, and former Tempo magazine chief editor Goenawan
Mohamad.

Four members of the National Commission on Human Rights -- BN
Marbun, Koesparmono Irsan, Djoko Soegianto, Clementino Dos Reis
Amaral -- were also present.

There were also students and women activists who lent their
support, singing songs like Ibu Pertiwi (My Motherland) and the
children's tune Waktu Ku Kecil (When I Was a Kid).

Judge Endang reached the verdict after hearing testimony from
two police officers and three witnesses, including two lecturers
from University of Indonesia, Toety Heraty and Tineke Saraswati
Arief.

Lawyer Nursyahbani Katjasungkana argued that her clients were
not conducting a parade. "How could singing and praying in a
location without moving to other place be categorized as a
parade?"

The accusation contravened the 1945 Constitution which
guarantees freedom of speech, she said

She also found defects in the police dossier, such as the
claim that the posters were seized from Karlina's house in Taman
Alfa Indah, West Jakarta, on Jan. 10, when in fact they were
taken during the protest. And there were irregularities regarding
the arrest warrants, she said.

The three women were questioned over a 23-hour period but were
never detained.

There was a brief commotion before the hearing when police
confiscated copies of Jurnal Perempuan (Women's Journal) from the
defendants' hands as they entered the courtroom.

"We ask the judge to order police to return the magazine since
it will be used in our defense plea," Karlina, Indonesia's first
female astronomer and a researcher at the Agency for the
Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), said.

The court agreed to her demand after she threatened to boycott
the hearing. (jun)