Police release detained Australian trade unionists

JAKARTA (JP): Police released yesterday the two Australian unionists and 10 Indonesians who were detained during the Friday congress of the unrecognized-Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI).

The two Australians -- Greg Sword, secretary general of the Melbourne based National Union of Workers, and Ma Wei Pin, regional secretary of the Sydney based International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers Association -- were released after spending a night at the South Jakarta Police station.

They are expected to return home today.

SBSI congress organizer Luthfie Hakim said yesterday that everyone who was detained Friday were released yesterday.

None of them was charged.

Police forced SBSI to stop its planned three-day congress hours after it opened Friday.

Police then detained eight SBSI members, two Indonesian participants, and four foreigners -- the two Australians and two Dutch journalists.

The two journalists, Ronald Frisart and Step Vaessen, were handed to the Dutch Embassy later that day after being questioned by police for about two-and-a-half hours.

The Australians told The Jakarta Post yesterday that apart from being held overnight they were questioned for about an hour by police on their connections to the SBSI and why they attended the congress.

"It wasn't nice to be detained. I'm happy to be released," Ma Wei Pin said, adding that they would be leaving Indonesia on an evening flight today.

"I don't understand why they should detain people like that," he said.

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation's Munir said police broke- up the congress because it allegedly violated Art. 510 of the Criminal Code which stipulates the organizers have to have a permit to hold public events. (05)