More students accused of defamation freed

More students accused of defamation freed

JAKARTA (JP): Two more students convicted of defaming
President Soeharto were released yesterday amid protests from the
Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) against the Supreme Court's
decision to "delay" freeing four other students.

Masduki and Hendrik Dikson Sirait became free men after being
behind bars at the Salemba Detention Center here since December.
They were enthusiastically welcomed by their colleagues and
families who were waiting anxiously at the center's compound.

The joy, however, turned into confusion as Suwito Ngateman,
Moch. Rifki, Leroy John Ratak, the three others due for release,
failed to appear.

Also delayed was the release of another student, Mandri Sri
Martiana, incarcerated in the Pondok Bambu Detention Center in
East Jakarta.

Her elder brother and an uncle from Mataram, West
Nusatenggara, came especially to fetch her and were told that the
center knew nothing about the delay.

The students' colleagues were also outraged at prison
officials' inability to satisfactorily explain the delays.

The six students, who were prosecuted in two different groups
during the trial, were sentenced to 10 months in jail.

They are among the 21 students convicted on charges of
insulting President Soeharto during an anti-government
demonstration at the House of Representatives (DPR) on Dec. 14
last year. Ten other students were released in August.

Rita Serena Kalibonso, an LBH lawyer representing the
students, told The Jakarta Post that the institute was puzzled by
the Supreme Court's decision not to release the other four
despite the fact that they had served the 10-month term handed
down by the lower court.

The Central Jakarta District Court originally sentenced the
students to six months prison terms. However, acting on the
appeal of the prosecutors, the Supreme Court reviewed the
students' cases and then extended the terms to between eight and
14 months.

Released

Rita said the lawyers, who later came to the Supreme Court
looking for an explanation, were told that the four students
would be released on Oct. 15.

Rita said that LBH did not understand why the Court treated
each defendant differently. "We will keep on urging the court to
release the four students," she said.

She also said that news of the decision to free Masduki and
Hendrik was received by the students only on Monday, while it was
actually made on Aug. 31.

Andri, a colleague of the students who turned up at the Pondok
Bambu, said that officials could not give a satisfactory
explanation about why the detention center could not release
Mandri.

"We once had an argument with the officials at the detention
center but later decided to go to the prosecutor's office," he
said. The Central Jakarta prosecutor's office then told the
students that Mandri and the other three could not be released
because they belonged to a different group in the trial.(par)