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)