Pakpahan testifies at activists' trial
JAKARTA (JP): Muchtar Pakpahan, chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union who was released from jail Tuesday, testified yesterday at the trial of four union members charged of illegally holding a rally on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta, on March 9.
He told the Central Jakarta District Court that he had ordered the union members to hold the demonstration.
The demonstration was one of 10 union rallies held throughout the city on March 9.
"I told my members about the plan when I was being treated at Cikini Hospital. I'm responsible for the demonstration," Pakpahan said.
He said the union had sent a notification letter to the National Police chief about the rallies, asking the police to safeguard the demonstrators.
Several protesters were arrested March 9, some of whom have been released.
The four defendants, Kuldip Singh, Widhi Wahyu, Wandy Nicodemus Tuturoong and Farah Diba Agustine, were the only demonstrators to be indicted.
Farah was released earlier on her family's request, while the other three have remained in custody.
Before hearing Pakpahan's testimony, the panel of judges led by I.G.N. Putra, approved the defense's request for Kuldip, Widhi and Wandy to be released from detention.
Pakpahan, who was sentenced for four years in jail on charges that he incited a riot in Medan, North Sumatra, in 1994, said the protesters planned to march to the House of Representatives.
The demonstrators demanded price cuts for staple foods, an end to worker dismissals, eradication of corruption and Pakpahan's release.
Dozens of union supporters packed the courtroom yesterday, singing songs and showing support for the release for the four defendants.
The judges, in a provisional decision, rejected the defense's request that the case be dismissed.
"We do not agree with the defense's statement. We believe the prosecution's indictment statement is clear," judge Putra said.
He said Law No. 5/1963 on political activities applied to the case and that the law had never been revoked.
The court also said it would not declare the defendants' detention as illegal, saying that the matter should be examined in a pretrial hearing.
Defense lawyer Trimedya Panjaitan said the judges' decision to continue the trial was deplorable, arguing that the court had yet to understand the reform movement's call for political freedoms.
"The judges are behaving the same way as if this was still the old regime. Under the new government, all political trials should be ended," Trimedya said. (jun)