Prosecutor demands 11-year sentence for PRD activist
Prosecutor demands 11-year sentence for PRD activist
JAKARTA (JP): An eleven-year jail term was sought yesterday
for Democratic People's Party (PRD) activist, Wilson bin
Nurtiyas, who is accused of undermining the state ideology
Pancasila.
State prosecutor Dedi Pridasa told the South Jakarta District
Court yesterday Wilson had been proven guilty of breaching the
1963 Subversion Law through his involvement in the party which
adopted "social democratic populism ideology" rather than state
ideology Pancasila.
Dedi said that Wilson, chief of the education, information and
international relations department of the Indonesian Center for
Labor Movement, a PRD affiliate, had undermined the state
ideology through his activities in the organizations between 1994
and 1996.
The prosecutor said the defendant had incited workers to
protest by distributing leaflets, including some demanding that
the daily minimum wage be raised to Rp 7,000 (US$2.84), to revoke
the Armed Forces' sociopolitical role and the political laws.
The prosecutor said Wilson was guilty of taking part in
seminars on East Timor abroad, of releasing statements which
opposed integration of the territory into Indonesia and of
holding a commemoration at University of Indonesia for the Nov.
12, 1991, Santa Cruz incident in Dili, East Timor.
Wilson was also guilty of attending in July 1996 the PRD's
establishment in Jakarta, which was marked by a declaration of
its political agenda. The organization had also issued awards for
antigovernment figures, including writer Pramudya Ananta Toer,
Xanana Gusmao, Thomas Wanggai and Sri Bintang Pamungkas, the
prosecutor said.
On Monday, the prosecution sought a nine-year prison sentence
for another PRD member, I Gusti Agung Anom Astika, for the same
charge.
Other PRD activists were sentenced in April to between 18
months and 13 years in jail.
When he was about to read the indictment, Dedi asked Wilson to
stand up and then said: "The prosecution does not wish for
revenge against the defendant, but to educate not only the
defendant but also the public."
After the indictment was read, Wilson embraced his weeping
mother and lead her out of the courtroom.
The trial will resume next Wednesday. (05)